Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,935 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,340 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Centene were worth $8,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its stake in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 5,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $57.72 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.84. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.