Man Group plc Has $49.25 Million Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Man Group plc reduced its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 36.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 813,006 shares of the company’s stock after selling 471,286 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.16% of Centene worth $49,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. Barclays cut their price target on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.77.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $59.56 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.47. The stock has a market cap of $29.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.