Monetary Management Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Monetary Management Group Inc. lowered its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Monetary Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,412,000 after buying an additional 130,895 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Centene by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,279,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,668,000 after acquiring an additional 480,082 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Centene by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,425 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $62.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.80.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.85.

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.