Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 21.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 104,172 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,998 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in Centene by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 10,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Centene by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 77,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,713,000 after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,378,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Centene by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $167,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, June 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.71.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $54.91 on Wednesday. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $53.99 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $58.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.85.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 14.56%. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.