Summit Global Investments Boosts Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Summit Global Investments grew its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 54.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,353 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Centene were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in Centene by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 381,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,310,000 after purchasing an additional 29,126 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $325,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 458,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,008,000 after purchasing an additional 32,250 shares in the last quarter. St. Louis Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Centene by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 44,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,794 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $745,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.23.

Centene Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $74.81 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.88. The stock has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current 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.