Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,017 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,187 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Centene by 6.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 5,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Centene by 7.5% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 14,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 11.4% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the period. Conning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 30,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $58.65 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.96. 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 has a market capitalization of $29.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its 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. 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 analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.