ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 5,536 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,642 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,536 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Centene by 21.7% during 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,053,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,760,000 after purchasing an additional 443,121 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $61.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.44. The company has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.77.

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.