Wick Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Wick Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 13,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143,904 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $332,044,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at about $186,662,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Centene by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,171,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,111,000 after acquiring an additional 2,472,341 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.1%

CNC opened at $61.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $66.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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%.Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Mizuho set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.24.

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.