Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,589 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,788 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.52 on Monday, reaching $73.62. 2,354,205 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,458,690. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $39.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $69.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About Centene

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.