QV Investors Inc. Has $15.92 Million Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

QV Investors Inc. lessened its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 31.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 262,162 shares of the company's stock after selling 121,360 shares during the period. Centene makes up 1.6% of QV Investors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. QV Investors Inc. owned about 0.05% of Centene worth $15,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.31.

Centene Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.12 on Thursday, hitting $55.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,034,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,870,561. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $54.01 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $27.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.82, 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.13.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced 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. 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 analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.