Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Bought by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,119 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 918 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 693.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P increased its stake in Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Centene by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter worth about $236,940,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $56.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.54.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CNC. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

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.