KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 268,790 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 268,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,283,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned 0.05% of Centene at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CNC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Centene by 9.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 74,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,645,000 after purchasing an additional 6,337 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 3.8% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 73,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,656 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth $227,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 212.8% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 15,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 10,420 shares during the period. Finally, Camden National Bank bought a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth $230,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stephens cut their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE CNC opened at $58.88 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.08. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.