Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Bought by Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,766 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. QV Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,655,000 after acquiring an additional 33,350 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in Centene by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,239,000 after buying an additional 231,931 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Centene by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,941,000 after buying an additional 68,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Centene by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 186,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,817,000 after buying an additional 14,070 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $72.26 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $38.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.55. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.38.

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.