GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 9,353.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 370,027 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 366,113 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.07% of Centene worth $22,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted 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 last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Centene by 9.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of 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 shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $78.31.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $55.16. The stock had a trading volume of 4,097,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,890,024. The company has a market cap of $27.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $54.01 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current 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.