Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Bought by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 165,527 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Centene were worth $12,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank grew its holdings in Centene by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 32,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, June 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction 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 sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 1.3 %

Centene stock opened at $66.19 on Wednesday. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.73.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.11 EPS. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.