Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 43,118 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 286,205 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,118 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Centene were worth $21,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Harris Associates L P acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at about $274,274,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,351,000 after purchasing an additional 704,684 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its stake in shares of Centene by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,990,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,071,000 after purchasing an additional 641,000 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,137,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Centene by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,512,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,198,000 after purchasing an additional 479,925 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Centene Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $75.59 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $40.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.51 and a 200-day moving average of $74.70. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

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