Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 31.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,378 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,465 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the third quarter worth about $761,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Centene by 2.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 654,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,252,000 after buying an additional 18,066 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its position in Centene by 3.5% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 249,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,753,000 after buying an additional 8,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Centene by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 304,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $59.96 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.79. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $29.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.