Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Holdings Cut by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,449,912 shares of the company’s stock after selling 667,321 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 1.02% of Centene worth $427,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.86.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $72.89. 936,848 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,448,421. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.70. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share 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.