134,831 Shares in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Purchased by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 134,831 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,186,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 245.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,589,000. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth $204,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Centene by 25.8% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 7,580 shares of the company's stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 3,273 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America cut shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.63.

Centene Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Centene stock traded up $0.39 on Wednesday, reaching $30.39. The company had a trading volume of 12,024,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,868,782. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 4.53, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 0.44. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $52.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.66. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $29.56 and a 52-week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company 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.