Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Decreases Stake in Centene Corporation $CNC

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,589,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 126,556 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Centene were worth $353,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Centene by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 52,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Centene by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 7,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Centene by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Centene by 5.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. increased its stake in Centene by 3.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on CNC shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Centene from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.24.

Centene Stock Down 0.0%

CNC opened at $65.18 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $51.43 and a 200 day moving average of $44.36. The company has a market cap of $32.18 billion, a PE ratio of -4.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $66.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.90 EPS. On average, sell-side 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.