Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $10.59 Million Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 16.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,885 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,525 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Centene were worth $10,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNC. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in Centene by 136.2% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 7,677 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Centene in the second quarter valued at about $10,779,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Centene by 8.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,707,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,150,000 after buying an additional 385,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Centene by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 21,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.58.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $75.63 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $63.45 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The firm has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $74.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.53.

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