English Capital Management LLC Buys 12,126 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

English Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 23.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 64,771 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,126 shares during the period. Centene comprises about 3.0% of English Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. English Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Harris Associates L P lifted its position in Centene by 5.7% during 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 buying an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Centene by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,654 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 3.5% during 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 worth $434,255,000 after acquiring an additional 194,566 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $230,412,000 after purchasing an additional 130,895 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.4% during 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 last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC opened at $58.88 on Friday. 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 $29.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $60.27 and its 200 day moving average is $63.15.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.