Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,666 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,332 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Centene were worth $3,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Centene by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Centene by 172.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Up 2.8 %

Centene stock opened at $60.58 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.88. The stock has a market cap of $30.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.