64,624 Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC Bought by Evolve Private Wealth LLC

Evolve Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 64,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,659,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after buying an additional 17,143,904 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,044,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter worth $186,662,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Centene by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,171,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,111,000 after buying an additional 2,472,341 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of CNC opened at $60.52 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $53.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.83. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $66.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.61, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, April 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.24.

About Centene

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.