Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Cuts Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,055 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.06% of Centene worth $21,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Centene in the first quarter worth $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after buying an additional 6,881,450 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Centene by 0.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,033,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Centene by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,117,000 after acquiring an additional 25,595 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Centene by 60.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,460 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $75.61 on Monday. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $63.45 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.48 and its 200 day moving average is $73.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Baird R W raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.58.

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.