Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 78.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,145 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,905 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Centene by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company's stock worth $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 16,108 shares in the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP bought a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $610,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 216,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,142,000 after buying an additional 100,039 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 32.3% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 925,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,046,000 after buying an additional 270,899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.75.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.42. The stock had a trading volume of 15,513,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,764,398. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.79 and a 200 day moving average of $58.30. The stock has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.44. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.39 and a 52-week high of $80.59. 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 (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 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.