Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 63.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,274 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,671 shares during the quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Centene were worth $1,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company's stock worth $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,536,167,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company's stock worth $230,412,000 after buying an additional 130,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company's stock worth $241,126,000 after acquiring an additional 428,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.56. 3,196,429 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,608,919. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $59.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.45. 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 company has a market cap of $31.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.