Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC Invests $258,000 in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after buying an additional 1,490,935 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 15.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $19,464,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 7.3 %

CNC opened at $56.83 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $28.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.43.

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

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.