Vicus Capital Increases Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Vicus Capital raised its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,501 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Centene were worth $275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 134,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,242,000 after buying an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Centene by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 187,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,946,000 after purchasing an additional 61,666 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association boosted its stake in Centene by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 14,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 70.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 78,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,384,000 after purchasing an additional 32,252 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $66.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $72.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.87.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.93.

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.