Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $186.08 Million Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 32.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,065,090 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,480,259 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.62% of Centene worth $186,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock worth $639,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Centene by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock worth $391,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Centene by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,760,000 after purchasing an additional 443,121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $32.59. 10,525,840 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,688,129. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $54.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $31.78 and a 52 week high of $80.59.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $66.40.

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.