WINTON GROUP Ltd Takes Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 64,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,665,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 18,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares in the last quarter. TT Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. TT Capital Management LLC now owns 15,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Centene by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 4,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 9,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 121,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,007,000 after acquiring an additional 14,828 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Centene from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.47.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $62.35 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.79 billion, a PE ratio of -4.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.36. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $63.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $49.94 billion during 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%.The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

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.