Amalgamated Bank Sells 9,952 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Amalgamated Bank lessened its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 97,081 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,952 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $66,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 77.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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 note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 have bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $58.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $28.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.32, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The company 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%. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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.