Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 25,595 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,595 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $364,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 154.6% in the second quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Centene during the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Nine 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.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.93.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $77.67 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $71.21 and its 200 day moving average is $73.87.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS 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 in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

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.