Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 485 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,338 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. QV Investors Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,655,000 after buying an additional 33,350 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in Centene by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,239,000 after buying an additional 231,931 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Centene by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,941,000 after purchasing an additional 68,854 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Centene by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 286,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,239,000 after purchasing an additional 43,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.25.

Centene Stock Down 2.2 %

Centene stock opened at $74.00 on Friday. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.