AIA Group Ltd Takes $411,000 Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

AIA Group Ltd bought a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 45.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Centene by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,889 shares of the company's stock worth $1,932,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $190,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 26,907 shares of the company's stock worth $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 7,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $951,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE CNC traded down $2.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.13. 8,030,156 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,626,446. 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 company has a market cap of $30.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $59.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.45.

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Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CNC. Argus downgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens cut their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.