Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $27.66 Million Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 456,636 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,653 shares during the quarter. Centene makes up approximately 1.5% of Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.09% of Centene worth $27,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus downgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their target price 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. UBS Group raised Centene from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $60.55. The company had a trading volume of 513,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,588,728. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The business's 50-day moving average is $59.91 and its 200-day moving average is $62.56. The stock has a market cap of $30.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. 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 (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm 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%. The company's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current 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.