Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Boosts Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,091,175 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 168,856 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC owned 0.22% of Centene worth $66,103,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co lifted its position in Centene by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Barclays increased their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $58.48 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $29.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.11. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.