TD Asset Management Inc Raises Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,238 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 88,522 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Centene worth $11,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oracle Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $3,936,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 451.2% in the third quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 181,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,490,000 after acquiring an additional 148,900 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 22.1% in the third quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,356,000 after acquiring an additional 194,300 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 161.1% in the third quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 91,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,281,000 after acquiring an additional 56,730 shares during the period. Finally, Kennondale Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 500.0% in the third quarter. Kennondale Capital Management LLC now owns 48,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after acquiring an additional 40,815 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $63.00 price target on Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.24.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $65.11 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.84 and a 200 day moving average of $43.55. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $65.80. The firm has a market cap of $32.15 billion, a PE ratio of -4.96, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The company had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.