Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stake Boosted by Sector Gamma AS

Sector Gamma AS boosted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 78.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the quarter. Centene comprises approximately 3.5% of Sector Gamma AS's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Sector Gamma AS's holdings in Centene were worth $10,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Centene by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 74,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,645,000 after acquiring an additional 6,337 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,959 shares of the company's stock worth $900,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Centene in the third quarter valued at about $2,566,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Centene by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 73,226 shares of the company's stock worth $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI purchased a new stake in Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

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Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded down $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $58.88. 3,423,081 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,477,449. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.09 and a 200 day moving average of $62.90. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Argus lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens cut their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.92.

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.