Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Holdings Cut by Epoch Investment Partners Inc.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,760 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,015 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its position in Centene by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 5,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Centene by 22.6% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 351,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,059,000 after acquiring an additional 64,693 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 1,476 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Baird R W raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $73.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.70. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.8 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.