Focused Investors LLC Takes Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Focused Investors LLC acquired a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 151,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,178,000. Centene comprises 0.3% of Focused Investors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harris Associates L P lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,255,000 after purchasing an additional 194,566 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,412,000 after buying an additional 130,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Centene by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $58.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.15.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.