Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 42.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,161,362 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 648,620 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.40% of Centene worth $160,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,350 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Centene by 23.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Centene by 57.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Centene by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 186,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,817,000 after purchasing an additional 14,070 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, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CNC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.38.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $76.19. 354,352 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,036,715. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $40.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.70. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42.

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

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.