Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $16.23 Million Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 267,940 shares of the company's stock after selling 48,858 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.05% of Centene worth $16,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Centene by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $639,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,358 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,053,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Centene by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Centene by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,760,000 after acquiring an additional 443,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Down 3.0%

NYSE:CNC traded down $1.72 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $55.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,624,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,894,277. The company has a market cap of $27.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The business's 50-day moving average is $60.67 and its 200-day moving average is $60.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

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 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.