Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 20,564 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 31.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,564 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the first quarter worth $36,000. Ellevest Inc. increased its position in Centene by 141.0% in the first quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the first quarter worth $41,000. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the second quarter worth $47,000. 90.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $94.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on Centene from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 31st. TheStreet upgraded Centene from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Friday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Centene from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.39.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC opened at $73.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $39.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.71 and a 200-day moving average of $67.37. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $87.84.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $38.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 1.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. It operates in two segments, Managed Care and Specialty Services. The Managed Care segment offers health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children's health insurance program, long-term services and support, foster care, and medicare-medicaid plans, which cover dually eligible individuals, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs.