Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by SouthState Corp

SouthState Corp trimmed its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. QV Investors Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,350 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Centene by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,239,000 after acquiring an additional 231,931 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Centene by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,941,000 after acquiring an additional 68,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Centene by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 286,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,239,000 after acquiring an additional 43,118 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CNC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock traded up $2.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $74.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,385,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,180,931. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.41. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.84.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.11 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current 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.