Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Cambiar Investors LLC

Cambiar Investors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 675,362 shares of the company’s stock after selling 64,595 shares during the period. Centene makes up 1.6% of Cambiar Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Cambiar Investors LLC owned about 0.13% of Centene worth $40,913,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of Centene by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,919 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV boosted its position in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 5,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.31.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $58.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.97. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962. 0.33% of the stock is owned by 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.