Mariner LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Mariner LLC cut its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 106,295 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,190 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $6,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company's stock worth $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its position in Centene by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company's stock worth $2,189,000 after buying an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd lifted its stake in Centene by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim started coverage on Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Seven investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.69.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC traded down $4.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.47. 4,139,857 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,724,380. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.06. The company has a market cap of $28.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

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

Centene Company 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.