Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 1,331,154 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 152.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,203,313 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,331,154 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC owned about 0.45% of Centene worth $90,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Centene by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 9,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 9,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Snowden Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Centene from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.24.

Centene Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $65.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.09. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $66.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.32.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.