Bridgewater Associates LP Has $74.03 Million Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 161.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,222,029 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 754,784 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.24% of Centene worth $74,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Guggenheim started coverage on Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.85.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $62.94 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $31.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.57.

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