Ossiam Acquires 10,871 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ossiam increased its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 95.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,292 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,871 shares during the quarter. Ossiam's holdings in Centene were worth $1,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Centene by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Seven equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.69.

Centene Stock Down 6.2 %

CNC stock traded down $3.84 on Friday, reaching $57.74. 8,848,331 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,746,772. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $60.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.97. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, 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 Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. Research 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.