Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 2,029 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,165 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,029 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 588.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.31.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $56.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.73. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $28.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.