Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 25.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,236 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its position in Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Centene by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,042,000 after acquiring an additional 636,683 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after acquiring an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $236,940,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.92.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock opened at $64.61 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $60.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.24.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders have bought a total of 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.