Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 1,968,134 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 58,114,005 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,968,134 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Centene worth $3,520,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CNC. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in Centene by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 14,671 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd lifted its position in shares of Centene by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $59.38 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.18 and its 200 day moving average is $62.98.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene 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.