Andrew Lynn Asher Acquires 17,200 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stock

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.04. The company had a trading volume of 6,850,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,969,779. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.30. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $57.56 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $29.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.08, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Centene during the first quarter valued at about $914,080,000. Boston Partners grew its stake in Centene by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,033,000 after purchasing an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Centene by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,117,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Centene by 60.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Centene by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,042,000 after buying an additional 636,683 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.92.

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.