Forte Capital LLC ADV Trims Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Forte Capital LLC ADV trimmed its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 465 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Centene were worth $294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $66,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 77.3% in 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. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in Centene by 588.0% during the third 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. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $57.72 on Friday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $61.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on 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 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.