Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 20,650 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 20,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,254,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Centene by 21.7% in the fourth 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock worth $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,854,000 after buying an additional 1,578,917 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $55.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.29 and a 200-day moving average of $59.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $54.01 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Centene in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.71.

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.

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