Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Trims Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,569 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,141 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Centene by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Centene by 1.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in Centene by 41.4% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Baird R W upgraded Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.58.

Centene Trading Up 1.6 %

CNC opened at $76.57 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Centene Co. has a one year low of $63.45 and a one year high of $81.42.

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

Centene Profile

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.