BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $110.31 Million Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 20.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,405,541 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 234,545 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Centene were worth $110,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $90.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $1.31 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.80. The company had a trading volume of 4,311,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,386,258. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.21. The stock has a market cap of $36.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.48, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. Centene’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. Analysts expect 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.