First Trust Advisors LP Sells 53,416 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 235,985 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,416 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Centene were worth $19,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5,700.0% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Centene by 24.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth about $71,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 76.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 947 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. 93.28% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CNC. Cowen dropped their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Stephens lowered their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.59, for a total value of $93,226.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,547.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Sarah London acquired 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $62.60 per share, for a total transaction of $1,878,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 313,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,653,457.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.59, for a total value of $93,226.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $566,547.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $65.40 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $35.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.82. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $61.71 and a 1 year high of $98.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.12). Centene had a return on equity of 13.61% and a net margin of 1.01%. The business had revenue of $38.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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Centene Corp. operates as a healthcare enterprise, which engages in the provision of programs and services to government sponsored healthcare programs. It operates through the following segments: Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.