Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Sells 15,016 Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lowered its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 413,963 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,016 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Centene were worth $25,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Centene by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 16,108 shares during the period. Diametric Capital LP purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth $610,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Centene by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 216,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,142,000 after purchasing an additional 100,039 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 708,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,026,000 after acquiring an additional 163,462 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Centene from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $48.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.50.

Centene Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $29.40 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.38, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.44. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $27.34 and a one year high of $80.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.