Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stock Holdings Increased by Eversept Partners LP

Eversept Partners LP raised its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 39.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,493 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 53,534 shares during the quarter. Centene comprises 1.0% of Eversept Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Eversept Partners LP's holdings in Centene were worth $11,419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Centene by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Centene by 693.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company's stock worth $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.2% in the 4th 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. lifted its position in Centene by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,056,000 after purchasing an additional 928,465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.69.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $3.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.74. The company had a trading volume of 8,848,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,740,201. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. 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 business's 50-day moving average is $60.10 and its 200 day moving average is $60.81.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.