Capital Performance Advisors LLP Raises Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Capital Performance Advisors LLP increased its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 37.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,551 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 967 shares during the quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP’s holdings in Centene were worth $215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC raised its position in Centene by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in Centene by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd raised its position in Centene by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Centene by 17.1% in the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,478,000 after purchasing an additional 99,904 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $56.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.47. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

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.