Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $9.77 Million Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 161,283 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,133 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $9,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Oppenheimer reduced 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 reduced 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $61.40 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.49. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $30.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.