Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC

Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC reduced its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,279 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,454 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Centene by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co grew its stake in Centene by 172.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CNC. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 1.0 %

Centene stock opened at $60.03 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.52. 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 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The stock has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.