Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 821 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 821 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new stake in Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Centene by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 76,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,789,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Centene by 7.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 414,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,238,000 after purchasing an additional 30,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 1.5% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 98,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,379,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Argus lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $59.28 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $29.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.53 and its 200 day moving average is $63.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company 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.