Access Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harris Associates L P acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at $274,274,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 535.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,396,000 after buying an additional 1,548,961 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Centene by 8.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,351,000 after acquiring an additional 704,684 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Centene by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,395,000 after purchasing an additional 648,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its stake in shares of Centene by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,990,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,071,000 after purchasing an additional 641,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.23.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.79. 3,033,545 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,739,543. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $41.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.41. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

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.