E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 3,760 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 116.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,984 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,760 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 99,904 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. This represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 1.0 %

CNC opened at $60.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.82 and its 200 day moving average is $64.52.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.