LSV Asset Management Acquires 6,051 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

LSV Asset Management grew its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,237,351 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,051 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management owned 0.42% of Centene worth $175,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on CNC shares. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $90.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Price Performance

CNC traded up $0.61 on Friday, hitting $67.86. 4,033,718 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,361,339. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.37. The stock has a market cap of $36.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.50.

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

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.