Private Management Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Centene Corporation $CNC

Private Management Group Inc. reduced its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 560,998 shares of the company’s stock after selling 211,447 shares during the period. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $23,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 11,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 2,570 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $268,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT lifted its position in shares of Centene by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 14,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Centene by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 222,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,167,000 after purchasing an additional 13,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Mizuho set a $63.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.24.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $63.53 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $50.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.17. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $66.55. The firm has a market cap of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

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

Centene 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.