Mizuho Securities USA LLC Raises Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 40.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,850 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,740 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Centene by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,654 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Centene by 3.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,255,000 after acquiring an additional 194,566 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,412,000 after purchasing an additional 130,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after purchasing an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $59.38 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.98. The firm has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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.