First Light Asset Management LLC Makes New $5.89 Million Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

First Light Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 88,827 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,889,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P grew its stake in shares of Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $806,170,000 after buying an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Centene by 60.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $409,390,000 after buying an additional 1,959,460 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in shares of Centene by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,838,000 after buying an additional 416,003 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Centene by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 898,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,710,000 after buying an additional 386,379 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of CNC traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $74.69. The stock had a trading volume of 1,862,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,534,966. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $63.45 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $74.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.43. The company has a market cap of $39.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.58.

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.