Mutual Advisors LLC Acquires 337 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,293 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $314,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after purchasing an additional 10,867 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. First Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Centene by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,385,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,997,000 after buying an additional 29,127 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Centene from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CNC opened at $78.42 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.38. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current 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.