Banco Santander S.A. Has $3.43 Million Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Banco Santander S.A. grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1,656.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,658 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,432 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 30,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,290,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 20.0% in the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Centene by 3.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 621,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,799,000 after purchasing an additional 22,233 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 72.1% during the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 15,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 6,302 shares during the period. Finally, Seascape Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Centene by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 41,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,097,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 1.0 %

CNC stock opened at $60.03 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The stock has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.52. 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 (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.