B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Acquires 427 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,854 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,325,441,000. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Centene by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,619,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,878,000 after acquiring an additional 385,839 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Centene by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,918,000 after acquiring an additional 408,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Centene by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,112,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,173,000 after acquiring an additional 467,246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.93.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $67.66 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.98 and its 200 day moving average is $75.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $36.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. 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 quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

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.