Convergence Investment Partners LLC Sells 5,159 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 27.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,383 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,159 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $811,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Centene by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in Centene by 588.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Up 3.4 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $57.81 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. 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 $29.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.09.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share 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.