Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,142 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $978,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Centene by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of CNC opened at $59.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $29.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm 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%. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current 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.