Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stock Holdings Lessened by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 724,203 shares of the company’s stock after selling 82,733 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $53,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 23.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,000 after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its position in Centene by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 512,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,302,000 after purchasing an additional 107,894 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Centene by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 94,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,519,000 after acquiring an additional 29,676 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Centene by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 243,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,744,000 after buying an additional 14,209 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $75.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.74. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays initiated coverage on Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.38.

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.