Pitcairn Co. Has $569,000 Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Pitcairn Co. increased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,385 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Centene were worth $569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 24.4% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 4,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 21.5% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $528,000 after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 123,902.5% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 248,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,670,000 after acquiring an additional 247,805 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Centene by 1.7% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 310,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,349,000 after acquiring an additional 5,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Centene by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 180,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,586,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 3.4 %

CNC opened at $62.13 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.82 billion, a PE ratio of 9.96, a P/E/G 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.72 and its 200 day moving average is $62.26.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene 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.