Bessemer Group Inc. Has $597,000 Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 66.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,856 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Centene by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd increased its stake in Centene by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Centene by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $62.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day moving average is $59.60 and its 200-day moving average is $61.57. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.69.

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.