Cornerstone Advisors LLC Has $1.24 Million Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 19.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,800 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the first quarter worth $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value 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. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.8 %

Centene stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.24. 3,541,722 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,879,950. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.07. 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 capitalization of $35.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.17, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.50.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Baird R W upgraded Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.23.

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.