Stephens Inc. AR Sells 7,933 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,964 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,933 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Centene were worth $422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its stake in shares of Centene by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 14,671 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd grew its stake in shares of Centene by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 17.1% in the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,478,000 after acquiring an additional 99,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $56.87 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.08 and its 200-day moving average is $66.54. The company has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Centene 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.