Swiss National Bank Trims Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,486,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 97,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Centene were worth $90,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CNC. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene 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 completion of the purchase, the director now 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. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $58.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.93. The stock has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. 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 (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.