Forsta AP Fonden Acquires 13,900 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,800 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,900 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Centene were worth $14,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 73,362 shares of the company's stock worth $5,471,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 588.0% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,821 shares of the company's stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company's stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Centene by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 118,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,892,000 after buying an additional 5,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.17.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded up $2.60 on Friday, hitting $64.22. 12,143,201 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,794,969. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $59.77 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $72.88 and a 200 day moving average of $72.31. The stock has a market cap of $34.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $42.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.91 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

About Centene

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.