Westpac Banking Corp Purchases 14,560 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 53.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,784 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,560 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Centene were worth $2,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,536,167,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company's stock worth $1,766,683,000 after buying an additional 111,654 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,412,000 after purchasing an additional 130,895 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,826 shares of the company's stock worth $126,056,000 after acquiring an additional 928,465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

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Centene Trading Up 0.4 %

Centene stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $62.65. The stock had a trading volume of 5,439,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,674,890. 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 stock has a market cap of $31.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $61.89.

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. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.85.

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.