Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 457,928 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,968 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $27,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,654 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 3.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Centene by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,412,000 after purchasing an additional 130,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after purchasing an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens dropped their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $59.28 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $60.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 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.