Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Sells 2,260 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,829 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,260 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 84,741.9% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 225,379,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,483,403,000 after acquiring an additional 225,114,221 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth $713,235,000. Harris Associates L P purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at about $274,274,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 166.5% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,225,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,530,000 after purchasing an additional 2,014,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Centene by 5,586.9% in the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,683,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653,829 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Centene from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.46.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded up $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.42. 1,169,795 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,967,653. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.38. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.75 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.