First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Purchases Shares of 70,864 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 70,864 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,302,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its position in Centene by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,700 shares of the company's stock worth $3,374,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Centene by 24.9% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 3,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 38.4% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,034 shares of the company's stock worth $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 7,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bonfire Financial purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $490,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.49. 2,416,425 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,890,233. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $54.01 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.06. The company has a market cap of $27.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.89, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. 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. Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.71.

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.