Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stock Position Raised by Channing Capital Management LLC

Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 136,291 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,828 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $8,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Centene by 693.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P lifted its position 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 worth $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Centene by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,425 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,736,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Centene by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’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 acquisition, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, 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 purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Stephens dropped their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 1.0 %

Centene stock opened at $59.41 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.29. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.47 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a PEG 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 (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.