EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,585 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Centene by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC grew its position in Centene by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $59.61 on Wednesday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. 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 stock has a market cap of $29.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.47 and a 200-day moving average of $63.46.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.