Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Acquires 278 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,850 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 278 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Centene were worth $112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 5,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $57.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $61.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.84.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene 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.