Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Position Boosted by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 40.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,907 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,769 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co lifted its stake in Centene by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 0.5 %

CNC stock opened at $59.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $29.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.79.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on CNC. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

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.