Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Integrated Advisors Network LLC

Integrated Advisors Network LLC lowered its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,298,000 after purchasing an additional 112,605 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,655,000 after acquiring an additional 33,350 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Centene by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,239,000 after acquiring an additional 231,931 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,320,000 after acquiring an additional 51,878 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,349,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’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 directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.93.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $68.19 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.34.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

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.