BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $6.70 Million Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 89,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,406 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,799,000 after acquiring an additional 832,318 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Centene by 14.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,042,000 after purchasing an additional 636,683 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in Centene by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,838,000 after purchasing an additional 416,003 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Centene by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,707,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,150,000 after purchasing an additional 385,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Centene by 133.7% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 559,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,539,000 after buying an additional 319,927 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $60.06 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $57.20 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.70. The company has a market cap of $30.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.92.

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.