Malaga Cove Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 11,405 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $691,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Centene by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven 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 company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.77.

Centene Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of Centene stock traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $61.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,368,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,859,505. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.66 and a 200 day moving average of $60.46. The company has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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