Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys New Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kennondale Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $495,000. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 80,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,884,000 after acquiring an additional 8,787 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 72,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,398,000 after purchasing an additional 2,689 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Centene by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 457,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,742,000 after purchasing an additional 42,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 19,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,163,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 0.7 %

CNC stock opened at $59.62 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.41.

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 the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS 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.