Entropy Technologies LP Makes New Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 61,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,708,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 7,229 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 279,783 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,949,000 after buying an additional 41,327 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,699,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Centene by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 3,501 shares of the company's stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Centene by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 83,459 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,056,000 after purchasing an additional 12,537 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $58.90. 3,451,076 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,396,307. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The business's 50 day moving average is $61.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $99,903.93. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CNC. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.31.

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.