Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stake Lifted by Pinnacle Associates Ltd.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 47.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,699 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in Centene by 1,190.0% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new stake in Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Riverview Trust Co boosted its holdings in Centene by 154.6% during the second quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at $36,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $63.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.96. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $59.77 and a twelve month high of $81.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Centene from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

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.