Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 28,050 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 28,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,699,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Centene by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 47,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in Centene by 285.9% in the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 7.0% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stephens cut their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.31.

Centene Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $58.95 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.23 and a 200 day moving average of $66.95. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 40,893 shares of company stock valued at $2,409,962 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.