Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 3,005 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,278 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $17,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Centene during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Centene in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. Truist Financial upped their target price on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays assumed coverage on Centene in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.08.

Centene Trading Up 0.3 %

Centene stock opened at $72.99 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $77.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.44. Centene Co. has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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

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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Centene

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.