Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Trims Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 94,360 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Centene by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought 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 approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $58.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.60. The firm has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. 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 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

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.