Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stock Position Boosted by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,498 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,618 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its stake in Centene by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,298,000 after buying an additional 112,605 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 33,350 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Centene by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,239,000 after buying an additional 231,931 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Centene by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,320,000 after buying an additional 51,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,349,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.93.

Centene Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $68.19 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.47. Centene Co. has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The firm 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%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.11 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share 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.