Aviva PLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Aviva PLC cut its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 334,580 shares of the company's stock after selling 36,822 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.07% of Centene worth $20,269,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 21.5% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Centene by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 180,478 shares of the company's stock worth $13,586,000 after buying an additional 2,023 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 84.8% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,901,000 after acquiring an additional 11,583 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,047,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CNC. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.85.

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Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock traded up $1.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.82. The stock had a trading volume of 3,887,943 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,701,515. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The stock's 50 day moving average is $59.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.65. The firm has a market cap of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Centene's revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.