Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 440,662 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,739 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Centene worth $26,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. 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 report on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Centene from $65.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Centene from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $68.87.

Centene Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE:CNC traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.28. The stock had a trading volume of 33,741,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,446,665. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $56.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.39. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.12 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 2.04%. The business's revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation 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.