Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 32.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,460 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,077 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,255,000 after buying an additional 194,566 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,412,000 after buying an additional 130,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $59.26 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $29.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.39 and its 200-day moving average is $63.43.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CNC. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Company Profile

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.