Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 456,636 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,653 shares during the period. Centene accounts for about 1.5% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $27,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $60.23 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.86. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $29.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of 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, Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Company 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.