Seizert Capital Partners LLC Sells 33,701 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Seizert Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 30.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,440 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,701 shares during the quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Centene by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 28,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after acquiring an additional 4,727 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 824,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,934,000 after purchasing an additional 12,050 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its stake in shares of Centene by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 11,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,412,000 after buying an additional 130,895 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Centene by 245.5% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE CNC opened at $57.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $60.89 and its 200-day moving average is $64.82. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $28.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share 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.