Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 1,992,281 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,334,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,992,281 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Centene were worth $928,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after acquiring an additional 10,515 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in Centene by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens cut their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $60.78 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $59.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.56. The company has a market cap of $30.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

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