Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $649,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Centene by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,676,000 after buying an additional 190,334 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 76.6% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,885,000 after buying an additional 6,356,152 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. lifted its holdings in Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Centene by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,716,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,989,000 after buying an additional 2,111,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,290,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,078,000 after purchasing an additional 1,881,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE CNC opened at $58.25 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $28.76 billion, a PE ratio of -4.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.86. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $25.08 and a 52 week high of $62.21.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The firm had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. Centene’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $34.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.82.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.