ProShare Advisors LLC Has $5.98 Million Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,642 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,536 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prosight Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,332,000. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $452,000. Malaga Cove Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $691,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 16,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 3,233 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $277,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $61.78 on Monday. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The stock has a market cap of $30.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $60.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.44.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.77.

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.