Empirical Finance LLC Buys 7,229 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 38.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,034 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,229 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. CWM LLC grew its position in Centene by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 47,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in Centene by 285.9% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 12.0% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.0% during the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $58.95 on Monday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.96. The company has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. Truist Financial cut their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stephens decreased their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.31.

Centene 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.