Forte Capital LLC ADV Sells 465 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Forte Capital LLC ADV trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 465 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Centene were worth $294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Centene by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 248,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,744,000 after acquiring an additional 5,897 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $779,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at $236,940,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Centene by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 118,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,892,000 after buying an additional 5,258 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $57.72 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.98. The company has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens reduced their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Argus lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired 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 $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Centene

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.