DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 184,723 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 210.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 272,396 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 184,723 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS owned approximately 0.05% of Centene worth $16,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $387,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $5,973,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Centene by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 164,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,983,000 after buying an additional 20,252 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,536,167,000. Finally, Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,998,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Up 0.1 %

CNC traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.50. The stock had a trading volume of 802,165 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,590,009. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The company has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G 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. The stock's 50 day moving average is $59.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.45.

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Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Centene's revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CNC. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Argus cut Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.