Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Invests $375,000 in Centene Corporation $CNC

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 9,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 9,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Centene by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $59.72 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.54, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.06. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $60.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.90 EPS. Research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Argus upgraded Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $41.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Mizuho set a $58.00 target price on Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.18.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.