Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,174 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,792 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Centene by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in Centene by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 22,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Centene by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 70,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,278,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 33,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after acquiring an additional 2,978 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.92.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $64.64 on Friday. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $32.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.