AXQ Capital LP Sells 1,759 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

AXQ Capital LP reduced its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,395 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,759 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Centene were worth $811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of Centene by 68.4% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 14,671 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 1.2 %

CNC opened at $58.88 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $60.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. 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.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNC. 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. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene 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.