American Century Companies Inc. Increases Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,922,631 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 137,547 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.36% of Centene worth $127,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Centene in the 1st quarter worth approximately $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P raised its position in shares of Centene by 172.8% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after buying an additional 6,881,450 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,033,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,117,000 after acquiring an additional 25,595 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on CNC shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Baird R W raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.58.

Centene Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $75.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.61. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $63.45 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.64 billion, a PE ratio of 14.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Centene Company 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.