Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 22,415 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,641,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,415 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Centene worth $128,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 4.2% during the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 14,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 92.2% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 449,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,239,000 after buying an additional 215,432 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 1.0% in the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 46,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,627,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Centene by 30.6% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 20,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,619,000 after buying an additional 4,828 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, June 21st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.93.

Centene Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $66.77. 588,101 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,361,227. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $35.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.11 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 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.