Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Sells 600 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Centene by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,654 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,255,000 after acquiring an additional 194,566 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after acquiring an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Centene by 693.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.1 %

Centene stock opened at $56.87 on Monday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.