Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 490,801 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,232 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Centene were worth $32,540,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Centene by 60.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after buying an additional 1,959,460 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 535.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,396,000 after buying an additional 1,548,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

CNC traded up $1.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $78.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,197,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,502,248. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.70. The company has a market cap of $41.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.36.

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.