Toronto Dominion Bank Has $16.56 Million Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 273,367 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,657 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.05% of Centene worth $16,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,272,000. Bonfire Financial acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $490,000. Finally, Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 793,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,080,000 after purchasing an additional 109,839 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $57.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.27. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $28.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business 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 company posted $2.26 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus 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.