Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $2.79 Million Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 820.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,020 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,799,000 after acquiring an additional 832,318 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Centene by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,042,000 after acquiring an additional 636,683 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in Centene by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,838,000 after acquiring an additional 416,003 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Centene by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,707,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,150,000 after acquiring an additional 385,426 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in Centene by 128.3% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 580,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,241,000 after acquiring an additional 326,468 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,567,523.20. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % 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 Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $59.92 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $57.20 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $30.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.49.

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.