FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Acquires 712 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,851 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 712 shares during the period. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Centene were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 24.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 8,014 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 152.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,000 after purchasing an additional 7,049 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Centene by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Centene by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 9,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 3,130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Centene by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,216,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,558,000 after purchasing an additional 21,251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 7.3 %

CNC stock opened at $56.83 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.43.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.