B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,016 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 32.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,152 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 22.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,799,000 after buying an additional 832,318 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Centene by 14.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,042,000 after buying an additional 636,683 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in shares of Centene by 42.3% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,838,000 after buying an additional 416,003 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 0.2 %

Centene stock opened at $59.58 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $30.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.21. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CNC. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.