V Square Quantitative Management LLC Lowers Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC trimmed its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 15.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,263 shares of the company’s stock after selling 937 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its stake in Centene by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,298,000 after buying an additional 112,605 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 18.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,046,000 after purchasing an additional 98,298 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 435.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 16,304 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,320,000 after purchasing an additional 51,878 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 189.6% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 15,819 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $77.25. 52,386 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,482,240. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.70. The company has a market cap of $41.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.36.

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. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.