Aigen Investment Management LP Invests $2.64 Million in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,639,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Centene by 693.5% in the 4th 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. Harris Associates L P grew its position in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after acquiring an additional 428,100 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the third quarter valued at $19,464,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $57.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $28.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.82. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.