B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Reduces Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lowered its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 60.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,625 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,460 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Centene were worth $825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $411,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,871 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $190,000. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 40.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.85.

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Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC traded up $2.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $63.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,081,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,592,287. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $31.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.