Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 3,158 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 1,401.4% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,247 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Centene by 7.2% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Centene by 104.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 22,382 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Centene by 10.0% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 37,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,414 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays began coverage on Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

Centene Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $75.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.61. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

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

Insider Activity

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

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.