Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Position Trimmed by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co trimmed its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,878 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,759 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 839,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,636,000 after buying an additional 72,326 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $321,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in Centene by 39.5% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,056,000 after purchasing an additional 928,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 9,473 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 3,776 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Argus lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $59.96 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $29.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $59.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.79.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

About Centene

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.