Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Van ECK Associates Corp cut its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNCFree Report) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,199 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,396 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Arlington Partners LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the first quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 91.4% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.11% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 1.6 %

CNC stock opened at $66.83 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.87. The stock has a market cap of $36.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.57. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.34 and a fifty-two week high of $98.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNCGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $37.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.56 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 1.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Centene from $80.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Wolfe Research downgraded Centene from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Stephens reduced their target price on Centene from $87.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.11.

Read Our Latest Analysis on CNC

Centene Profile

(Free Report)

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. It operates in two segments, Managed Care and Specialty Services. The Managed Care segment offers health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children's health insurance program, long-term services and support, foster care, and medicare-medicaid plans, which cover dually eligible individuals, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Centene (NYSE:CNC)

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