Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 15.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,044 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,319 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Centene were worth $14,087,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Centene by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock worth $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock worth $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock worth $391,854,000 after buying an additional 1,578,917 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Centene by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock worth $320,760,000 after buying an additional 443,121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.71.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE CNC traded up $0.41 on Friday, hitting $53.98. The company had a trading volume of 5,925,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,961,663. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $52.93 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a market capitalization of $26.86 billion, a PE ratio of 8.04, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.45. The company's fifty day moving average price is $57.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children's health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.