Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,721 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Centene by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 3.5% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 194,566 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,412,000 after purchasing an additional 130,895 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 15.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after purchasing an additional 428,100 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $58.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $60.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

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.