Bleakley Financial Group LLC Takes $465,000 Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 11,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $465,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 455.6% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 606 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Argus raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.18.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $59.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $29.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.54, a P/E/G 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $45.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.41.

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

About Centene

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.