Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Holdings Lifted by Ellsworth Advisors LLC

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 63,218 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,024 shares during the period. Centene accounts for 1.5% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene by 84,741.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 225,379,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,483,403,000 after acquiring an additional 225,114,221 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Centene by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,778,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,603,882,000 after acquiring an additional 423,324 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Centene by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,351,000 after acquiring an additional 704,684 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $713,235,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Centene by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,918,000 after acquiring an additional 408,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $78.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,351,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,185,080. The stock has a market cap of $41.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The company had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Centene from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Centene from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.46.

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.