United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Acquires New Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $321,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Stephens cut 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $60.58 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.04 and its 200-day moving average is $62.88. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.71, a P/E/G 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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.