Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 91.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,802,265 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.75% of Centene worth $228,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 21.7% during 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted 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 worth $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in Centene by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,425 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Centene by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,826 shares of the company's stock worth $126,056,000 after purchasing an additional 928,465 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $59.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,892,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,747,684. The firm has a market cap of $29.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $60.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.71. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.77.

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.