Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Holdings Lowered by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Farther Finance Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 25.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,787 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,613 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in Centene by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Centene by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Centene by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC raised its position in Centene by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens dropped their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Argus lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $59.61 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.46. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $29.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.