Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Increases Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,483 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $8,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Centene by 0.8% during the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 114,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,872,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Centene during the third quarter valued at $590,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Centene by 10.1% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 58,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after purchasing an additional 5,329 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $223,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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 upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.29.

Insider Activity

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 value of $67,386.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Centene news, 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 value of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $67.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,937,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,356,246. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

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.