566 Shares in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Bought by OFI Invest Asset Management

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Centene by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in Centene by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Centene by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $58.61 on Wednesday. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $29.07 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.15.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CNC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.