MQS Management LLC Buys New Shares in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

by · The Cerbat Gem

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC – Free Report) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 6,926 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $420,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Centene by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 32.3% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Centene by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,760,000 after acquiring an additional 443,121 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Bank of America dropped their price target on Centene from $65.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Centene from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $70.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.75.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Centene

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $31.42 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.44. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $31.31 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $53.21 and its 200 day moving average is $58.06.

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

Centene Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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