Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 110,992 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,066 shares of the company’s stock after selling 110,992 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Centene by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,676,000 after buying an additional 190,334 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,885,000 after buying an additional 6,356,152 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,338,000 after buying an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. increased its position in Centene by 184.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Centene by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,716,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,989,000 after buying an additional 2,111,674 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Argus upgraded Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Centene from $48.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.47.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $62.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $63.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.18.

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

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.