Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by MV Capital Management Inc.

MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.8% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,024 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 729 shares during the quarter. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNC. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, June 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock traded up $0.85 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.19. 3,732,104 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,383,235. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.11 earnings per share. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.