Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 6,567 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC cut its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 50.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,357 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,567 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $1,272,000. Bonfire Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $490,000. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 38.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company's stock worth $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 16,108 shares during the period. Finally, Diametric Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $610,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.71.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,457,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,897,854. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.95. Centene Co. has a one year low of $54.01 and a one year high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $27.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G 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 (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. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.