Centene Corporation $CNC Holdings Reduced by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lessened its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 24.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 322,874 shares of the company’s stock after selling 102,838 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.07% of Centene worth $17,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Burney Co. raised its stake in Centene by 557.5% during the 2nd quarter. Burney Co. now owns 213,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,563,000 after acquiring an additional 180,619 shares in the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in shares of Centene by 16.6% during the second quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 365,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,866,000 after purchasing an additional 52,100 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Centene by 265.8% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at about $325,000. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Centene by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 101,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,529,000 after buying an additional 11,868 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $37.49 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.46, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $66.81.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.71. The business had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.50 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. UBS Group set a $42.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research raised Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Centene from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.53.

About Centene

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.