Banco Santander S.A. Purchases 53,432 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1,656.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 56,658 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,432 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $53,736,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 15.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after acquiring an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Centene by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $60.03 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.52. The stock has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

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.