Vident Advisory LLC Boosts Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1,259.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,539 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,381 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Shell Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of Centene by 13.5% during the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 52,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,148,000 after buying an additional 6,268 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter worth approximately $355,000. Natixis boosted its stake in Centene by 18.5% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 54,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,291,000 after buying an additional 8,528 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 60.4% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 8,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 3,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter valued at $1,114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock traded up $6.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,971,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,426,451. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.79. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $39.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.51 EPS for the current 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.