Sector Gamma AS Has $10.30 Million Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sector Gamma AS grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 78.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Centene comprises approximately 3.5% of Sector Gamma AS’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Sector Gamma AS’s holdings in Centene were worth $10,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after buying an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in Centene by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after buying an additional 14,671 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd increased its holdings in Centene by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Centene by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 5,550 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Trading Up 0.7 %

CNC opened at $59.62 on Friday. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.41. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business 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%. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

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.