Sivia Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 5,395 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in Centene by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Centene by 8.8% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of Centene by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company's stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.31.

Centene Stock Up 0.6%

CNC opened at $55.16 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $27.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $54.01 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $59.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.09.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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