Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,203 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,943 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $5,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CNC. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.69.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC traded down $1.28 on Friday, hitting $60.70. 5,758,979 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,693,952. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $59.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. 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 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current 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.