TCW Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

TCW Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 73.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 39,103 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,252 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 5.5% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 5,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Centene by 2.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 73,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 24.3% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 40,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 8,014 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Centene by 4.2% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 108,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,147,000 after purchasing an additional 4,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Centene by 119.6% during the third quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 7,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 4,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE CNC opened at $58.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $61.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.60. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. This 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 H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.