Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $228.41 Million Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 91.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,802,265 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.75% of Centene worth $228,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $57.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The stock has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $60.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.97.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.70. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.