Norden Group LLC Buys 84,893 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Norden Group LLC increased its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2,590.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 88,170 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,893 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in Centene by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 0.5% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, 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 for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.93.

Centene Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $66.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.00 and its 200-day moving average is $74.68. The stock has a market cap of $35.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. Sell-side 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.