Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $61.14 Million Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 21.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 812,210 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 143,322 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $61,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Centene by 17.1% in the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,478,000 after purchasing an additional 99,904 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in Centene by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,385 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Centene by 189.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 15,819 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Centene by 7.3% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,307,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Centene by 15.4% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,435,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,063,000 after purchasing an additional 191,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.92.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $58.69 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’s 50-day moving average is $68.61 and its 200-day moving average is $71.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.63 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.49. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $57.56 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.