Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,948 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,507 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co boosted its stake in Centene by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of CNC opened at $58.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.27. 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 (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. 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. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

About Centene

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.