Freestone Grove Partners LP Purchases New Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,171,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $70,963,000. Centene makes up about 0.9% of Freestone Grove Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned approximately 0.23% of Centene at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 42.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Centene by 21.7% in the 4th 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock worth $228,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CNC shares. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Argus lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.77.

Centene Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $59.98. The company had a trading volume of 1,677,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,756,908. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $60.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.46. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company has a market capitalization of $29.85 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current 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.