Clarius Group LLC Buys New Position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Clarius Group LLC bought a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Centene by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Centene by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Centene in a report on Monday, June 9th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $77.71.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $55.08 on Thursday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $58.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a PE ratio of 8.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.45. 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 one year low of $53.99 and a one year high of $80.59.

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

Centene Profile

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.

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