Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 12,100 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. reduced its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 471,712 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,100 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 0.09% of Centene worth $28,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Centene by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,265 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Centene by 693.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Centene by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,425 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.69.

Centene Stock Down 6.2 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $57.74 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The stock has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $60.10 and its 200-day moving average is $60.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Centene 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.