Nebula Research & Development LLC Purchases New Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 31,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,901,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company's stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC boosted its position in Centene by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $57.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.70. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, research 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.

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