Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 1,730 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,280 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,730 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,622,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Centene by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after buying an additional 14,671 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 17.1% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,478,000 after acquiring an additional 99,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Centene by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $58.18 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $28.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.32, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $61.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.