Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Grows Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,335 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Centene were worth $9,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $1,325,441,000. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in Centene by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 535.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,396,000 after buying an additional 1,548,961 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in Centene by 375.1% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,943,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,263,000 after buying an additional 1,534,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Centene by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,395,000 after buying an additional 648,620 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Centene from $90.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.23.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Trading Up 4.7 %

CNC traded up $3.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.10. The company had a trading volume of 5,283,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,379,406. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.25. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $36.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.