Diametric Capital LP Takes Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Diametric Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,074 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

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

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $60.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $30.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.56. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Argus downgraded 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 assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

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.