Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) by 29.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 737,047 shares of the company's stock after selling 303,852 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.13% of Centene worth $57,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 613,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,759,000 after acquiring an additional 164,462 shares in the last quarter. WESTERN FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $609,000. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,524 shares of the company's stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 3,253 shares in the last quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 26.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 200,259 shares of the company's stock worth $15,582,000 after purchasing an additional 42,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 4,158 shares of the company's stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103 shares in the last quarter. 93.28% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Centene from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $99.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 26th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $100.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.35.

Centene Stock Up 0.3 %

Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 25th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.08. Centene had a net margin of 1.42% and a return on equity of 13.08%. The company had revenue of $35.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Centene declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Friday, December 16th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Centene Company Profile

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Centene Corporation operates as a multi-national healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured individuals in the United States. Its Managed Care segment offers health plan coverage to individuals through government subsidized programs, including Medicaid, the State children's health insurance program, long-term services and support, foster care, and medicare-medicaid plans, which cover dually eligible individuals, as well as aged, blind, or disabled programs.

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