State of Alaska Department of Revenue Boosts Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 88,564 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 525 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 21.7% in 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 during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,578,917 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Centene by 9.1% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.71.

Centene Stock Up 0.3%

CNC opened at $55.08 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.78. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $53.99 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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