Graham Capital Management L.P. Has $2.07 Million Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 405.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,079 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,336 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Centene were worth $2,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.77.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded up $1.72 on Friday, reaching $61.78. The company had a trading volume of 4,368,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,868,414. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The stock has a market cap of $30.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. The company's fifty day moving average is $60.66 and its 200 day moving average is $60.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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