Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stock Position Boosted by Sound Shore Management Inc. CT

Sound Shore Management Inc. CT boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,077,905 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 55,505 shares during the quarter. Centene accounts for 2.8% of Sound Shore Management Inc. CT's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT owned approximately 0.20% of Centene worth $79,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. QV Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,350 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,239,000 after purchasing an additional 231,931 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,941,000 after purchasing an additional 68,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 452,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,761,000 after purchasing an additional 17,120 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 research analysts recently commented on CNC shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,033,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,739,543. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.41. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $75.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.02.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

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.