Leuthold Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Leuthold Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 554 shares during the quarter. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,057,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in shares of Centene by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on CNC shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Baird R W raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Centene from $90.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.00.

Centene Stock Up 1.4 %

Centene stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,501,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,349,816. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $36.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.37.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.