River Road Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 106,602 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,672 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $8,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 1.0% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 41.4% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in Centene by 10.0% in the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 7,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $64.81 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.82. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $59.77 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.92.

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.