Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stock Position Lifted by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC grew its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2,590.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,170 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 84,893 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in Centene by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,298,000 after buying an additional 112,605 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,350 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Centene by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,239,000 after purchasing an additional 231,931 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Centene by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,320,000 after purchasing an additional 51,878 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,349,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 29th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.93.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $66.76 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $35.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.00 and its 200-day moving average is $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.