New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 454,401 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,018 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Centene were worth $27,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Centene by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 17.8% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at $1,118,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at $308,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new position in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at about $246,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens cut their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $56.87 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $61.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.54. 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 twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap 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.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.