NorthRock Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 4,573 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,573 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Centene by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Centene by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company's stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded down $1.21 on Wednesday, reaching $60.75. 3,227,541 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,866,417. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.80 and a 200-day moving average of $60.44. The company has a market capitalization of $30.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CNC. Barclays lowered their target price on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus downgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.77.

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.