Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC Boosts Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC grew its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 154.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 89,481 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,358 shares during the period. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 69.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 35,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 14,581 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Centene by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 166,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,521,000 after buying an additional 7,521 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Centene by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 30,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 1,946 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 9.3% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 9,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $62.46 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.80. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens reduced their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.85.

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.