Geode Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Geode Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,471,047 shares of the company's stock after selling 185,915 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.47% of Centene worth $754,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Centene Price Performance

CNC traded down $0.37 during trading on Monday, reaching $61.56. 2,291,966 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,629,494. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $30.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.81, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

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Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.92.

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.