Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Grows Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,612 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 6.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.3% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its holdings in Centene by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 5,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAM Holding AG boosted its position in Centene by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 88,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,698,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.92.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $64.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.24.

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.