Signaturefd LLC Decreases Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Signaturefd LLC cut its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 12.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,583 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,676 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Centene by 154.6% during the second quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNC. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Baird R W raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $78.83 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $42.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.