Diametric Capital LP Buys Shares of 10,074 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Diametric Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CNC. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Stephens dropped their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE CNC opened at $60.78 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.56. The company has a market capitalization of $30.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.