Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,217 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $619,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Centene by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,255,000 after buying an additional 194,566 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Centene Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $57.81 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.