CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $31.57 Million Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 521,490 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,435 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.10% of Centene worth $31,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Centene by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,107,296 shares of the company's stock worth $67,080,000 after buying an additional 16,996 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Centene by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 52,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,180,000 after purchasing an additional 14,500 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Centene by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,691 shares of the company's stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,062,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in shares of Centene by 161.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,222,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,031,000 after acquiring an additional 754,784 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus cut Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.69.

Centene Trading Up 3.1 %

Centene stock traded up $1.88 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $62.11. The stock had a trading volume of 4,219,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,591,114. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. 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 firm has a market cap of $30.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $59.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.13.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.