First Trust Advisors LP Sells 28,639 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 576,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,639 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.11% of Centene worth $34,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Centene by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in Centene by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company's stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Centene by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company's stock worth $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Centene by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CNC. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Argus downgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.77.

Centene Trading Up 1.1 %

CNC stock traded up $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.90. The company had a trading volume of 5,530,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,758,492. The business has a 50-day moving average of $60.19 and a 200-day moving average of $60.71. 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 Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The stock has a market cap of $29.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its 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 business had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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.