Marshall Wace LLP Trims Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 503,250 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,339 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned about 0.10% of Centene worth $30,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock worth $639,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Centene by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,412,000 after purchasing an additional 130,895 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Centene by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,279,433 shares of the company's stock worth $198,668,000 after purchasing an additional 480,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Centene by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,425 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Argus cut Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.69.

Centene Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $60.78. 2,415,578 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,578,948. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.13. The company has a market cap of $30.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

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