Greenleaf Trust Raises Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,384 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Centene were worth $622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $75.59 on Tuesday. 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 quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $40.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.70.

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

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.