AlphaQuest LLC Buys 263 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,142 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL grew its holdings in Centene by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 32,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,974,000 after acquiring an additional 2,270 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Centene by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,040,000 after buying an additional 1,214,425 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company 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, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC opened at $59.41 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.47 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.29.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate 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.