Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Sells 3,906 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd decreased its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 48.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,161 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,906 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Centene by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 385,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,345,000 after acquiring an additional 32,304 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 670,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,642,000 after buying an additional 83,278 shares during the period. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB raised its holdings in Centene by 67.1% in the 4th quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB now owns 195,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,842,000 after buying an additional 78,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,115,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $61.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.06. The firm has a market cap of $30.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.82, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.