AXS Investments LLC Purchases 16,663 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

AXS Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 967.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,385 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,663 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

CNC traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,733,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,150,743. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.58. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $40.34 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.23.

Centene Company 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.