UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Sells 1,101,618 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lowered its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,666,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,101,618 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned approximately 0.92% of Centene worth $282,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Centene by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in Centene by 1,788.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,033,000 after buying an additional 2,126,582 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,265 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CNC. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.77.

Centene Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $60.75 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.44. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $30.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Centene’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.