Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Acquires New Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 1.3 %

CNC stock opened at $62.22 on Wednesday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.57. The company has a market capitalization of $30.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.69.

Centene Company 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.