MGO One Seven LLC Trims Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

MGO One Seven LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 8.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,641 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,585 shares during the quarter. MGO One Seven LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Centene in the 1st quarter worth $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in Centene by 172.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Centene by 60.2% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after buying an additional 1,959,460 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 898,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,710,000 after buying an additional 386,379 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $75.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.98, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $73.57 and its 200 day moving average is $73.61. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $63.45 and a twelve month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.58.

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.