Banco Santander S.A. Has $214,000 Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 59.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,226 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,701 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Centene were worth $214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its holdings in Centene by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,298,000 after acquiring an additional 112,605 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 18.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,046,000 after purchasing an additional 98,298 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in Centene by 435.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 16,304 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in Centene by 35.8% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after buying an additional 7,385 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of Centene by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,320,000 after buying an additional 51,878 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE CNC traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.29. The stock had a trading volume of 2,424,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,437,382. The company has a market capitalization of $41.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Centene from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.93.

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.