Amalgamated Bank Sells 3,055 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Amalgamated Bank lowered its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,857 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,055 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Centene were worth $9,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the third quarter worth $35,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CNC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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 reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays lifted their price target on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.23.

Centene Stock Up 0.6 %

CNC traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.81. 4,706,732 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,598,060. The stock has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $75.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.84. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. Centene’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.11 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

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.