Fifth Third Bancorp Has $3.50 Million Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,682 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Centene in a report on Monday, June 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.71.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock opened at $55.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.47 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $59.29 and a 200-day moving average of $59.92. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $54.01 and a 12-month high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released 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. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Centene Company 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.