Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Keybank National Association OH

Keybank National Association OH trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,811 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,681 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Centene were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.7% in 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 last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.4% during 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. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the third quarter valued at $19,464,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $60.03 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.82 and a 200-day moving average of $64.52.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for 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 revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CNC shares. Barclays upped their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

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.