Oxbow Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 65,047 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Oxbow Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harris Associates L P increased its position in Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Centene by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Centene by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,255,000 after purchasing an additional 194,566 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,346,000 after buying an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $57.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.98. The stock has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.