Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 205,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,649 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $12,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,799,000 after purchasing an additional 832,318 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Centene by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,042,000 after purchasing an additional 636,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE CNC opened at $65.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.26. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $32.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNC. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene 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.