70,105 Shares in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Purchased by Magnetar Financial LLC

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 70,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,648,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Centene by 70.3% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 8,387 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 104.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Centene by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 88,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,858,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 21,633.3% during the 2nd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 6,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $432,000 after buying an additional 6,490 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $75.61 on Monday. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $63.45 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during 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%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Baird R W upgraded Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.58.

About Centene

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.