Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC Sells 1,056 Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 0.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 220,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,056 shares during the quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $13,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,272,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Centene by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 16,108 shares during the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $610,000. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 216,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,142,000 after acquiring an additional 100,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Centene by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 925,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,046,000 after purchasing an additional 270,899 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CNC opened at $55.08 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.78. The company has a market cap of $27.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $53.99 and a twelve month high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Centene in a report on Monday, June 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.71.

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.