Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 839,889 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,326 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $51,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co increased its position in Centene by 172.7% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $59.96 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.79.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

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.