Fulton Bank N.A. Cuts Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Fulton Bank N.A. decreased its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 59.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,909 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,791 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Centene were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 17.1% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,478,000 after acquiring an additional 99,904 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,654 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Centene by 31.1% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 118,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,944,000 after acquiring an additional 28,175 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,435,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,063,000 after acquiring an additional 191,768 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its position in shares of Centene by 273.5% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 44,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,334,000 after acquiring an additional 32,428 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $61.72 on Friday. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $31.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens dropped their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.92.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.