First Trust Advisors LP Sells 28,639 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 576,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,639 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.11% of Centene worth $34,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Guggenheim began coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.69.

Centene Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $61.46 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. 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 price is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

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. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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