Lbp Am Sa Raises Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Lbp Am Sa increased its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 97.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,727 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,794 shares during the period. Lbp Am Sa’s holdings in Centene were worth $920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,325,441,000. Harris Associates L P grew its position in shares of Centene by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Centene by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,619,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,878,000 after acquiring an additional 385,839 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Centene by 60.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,460 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Centene by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,112,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,173,000 after acquiring an additional 467,246 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were 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 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded down $0.16 on Friday, reaching $77.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,324,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,510,250. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.70. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.50.

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.