Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Cuts Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lowered its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 88.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,387 shares during the period. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda’s holdings in Centene were worth $36,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $3,656,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $6,173,000. 8 Knots Management LLC raised its position in Centene by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 2,000,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,176,000 after purchasing an additional 313,447 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Centene by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,760,000 after acquiring an additional 443,121 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday. Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.77.

Centene Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE CNC opened at $59.39 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.62. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $29.55 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. Analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current 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.