Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys New Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,632,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 47,850 shares of the company's stock worth $2,899,000 after purchasing an additional 13,740 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 216,928 shares of the company's stock worth $13,142,000 after acquiring an additional 100,039 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Centene by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,826 shares of the company's stock worth $126,056,000 after buying an additional 928,465 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Centene by 39.5% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,251 shares of the company's stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the period. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $321,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $48.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America downgraded Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $55.13.

Centene Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of CNC opened at $27.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.34 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $50.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.98.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (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 14.56% and a net margin of 2.04%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company 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.

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