Ellsworth Advisors LLC Buys 1,509 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,302 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its position in Centene by 154.6% in the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.36.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $78.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,348,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,494,143. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $70.08 and its 200 day moving average is $73.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. Centene’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.