Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 182.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,562 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,697 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in Centene by 1,190.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 41.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Riverview Trust Co grew its holdings in Centene by 154.6% during the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CNC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.58.

Centene Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $59.82 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $59.77 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $31.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.8 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.