Great Lakes Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 76.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,580 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 48,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,949,000 after purchasing an additional 2,524 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Centene by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 3,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Centene by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 136,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,257,000 after buying an additional 5,828 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $58.27 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.60 and its 200 day moving average is $63.73. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CNC. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.