Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Grows Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,600 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,689 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,398,000 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 the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 457,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,742,000 after acquiring an additional 42,968 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Centene by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 19,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,091,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,103,000 after purchasing an additional 168,856 shares during the period. Finally, Fore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,212,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $59.61 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.