Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Raises Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 852,824 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in Centene were worth $51,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNC. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 839,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,636,000 after acquiring an additional 72,326 shares in the last quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $321,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in shares of Centene by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 80.6% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,056,000 after buying an additional 928,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP grew its stake in Centene by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 9,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after acquiring an additional 3,776 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $60.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 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.