Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $4.53 Million Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 18.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,155 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,287 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Centene during the third quarter valued at about $844,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 9,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 35.3% during the third quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 8,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 2,175 shares in the last quarter. Gould Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 14,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its position in Centene by 9.3% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 13,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Trading Up 2.4 %

CNC opened at $59.42 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. This represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CNC. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.31.

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.