Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by MV Capital Management Inc.

MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,024 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the quarter. MV Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,121,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,325,441,000. Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in Centene by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,450 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Centene by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,619,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,878,000 after buying an additional 385,839 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 7.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,918,000 after buying an additional 408,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Centene by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,112,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,173,000 after acquiring an additional 467,246 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.93.

Centene Trading Up 1.3 %

Centene stock traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.19. 3,732,104 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,383,235. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $35.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.86. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.11 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share 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.