Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 457,928 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 42,968 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Centene worth $27,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Centene by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 19,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares in the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $426,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,091,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,103,000 after buying an additional 168,856 shares in the last quarter. Fore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,212,000. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,000 after acquiring an additional 4,077 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 1.9 %

CNC opened at $59.28 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.60.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

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.