Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Bought by Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,592 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,270 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Centene by 5.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 30,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 621,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,799,000 after purchasing an additional 22,233 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Centene by 72.1% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 15,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seascape Capital Management raised its stake in Centene by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 41,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $60.03 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.82 and a 200-day moving average of $64.52. The company has a market capitalization of $29.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business 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%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CNC. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.