National Pension Service Has $88.16 Million Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

National Pension Service grew its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,187,974 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,803 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.22% of Centene worth $88,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the third quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at $35,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, 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 sale, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set 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 issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.23.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $77.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,046,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,156,569. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.95. The company has a market capitalization of $41.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share 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.