Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC trimmed its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 40.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,148 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Centene by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $59.38 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.98. The firm has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current 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.