Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Reduces Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,360 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,500 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the third quarter valued at $66,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in shares of Centene by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens reduced 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. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 in the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $58.89 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $61.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.