Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Sells 4,387 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda cut its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 88.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 595 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,387 shares during the quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda's holdings in Centene were worth $36,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $3,656,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $6,173,000. 8 Knots Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 2,000,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,176,000 after buying an additional 313,447 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock worth $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Centene by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock worth $320,760,000 after purchasing an additional 443,121 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.77.

Centene Stock Up 3.9 %

NYSE CNC traded up $2.34 on Wednesday, hitting $62.02. 1,853,230 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,763,873. The company has a market cap of $30.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.27 and a 200-day moving average of $60.46. 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 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Centene's revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current 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.