Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 10,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $74.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,706,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,598,060. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.88. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS 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.