Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Cuts Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC reduced its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 40.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,148 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co boosted its position in Centene by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens dropped their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $59.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.98. 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 posted 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 net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 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.