Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 42.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,400,276 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 416,003 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Centene were worth $92,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth approximately $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P increased its position in Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Centene by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,033,000 after acquiring an additional 32,427 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,117,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Centene by 60.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $75.63 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $63.45 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CNC. Baird R W upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven 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 MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.58.

Centene 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.