Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 37.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 360,516 shares of the company’s stock after selling 219,849 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Centene worth $24,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in Centene by 1,401.4% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,901,000 after acquiring an additional 43,247 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Centene by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Centene by 104.7% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,684,000 after buying an additional 22,382 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the first quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Centene by 10.0% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 37,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. 90.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE CNC opened at $72.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $87.84. The company has a market capitalization of $38.87 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.46.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.45. Centene had a net margin of 1.63% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The firm had revenue of $38.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.67 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CNC. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $94.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Stephens reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $87.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, July 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.39.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. It operates in two segments, Managed Care and Specialty Services. The Managed Care segment offers health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children's health insurance program, long-term services and support, foster care, and medicare-medicaid plans, which cover dually eligible individuals, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs.