TCW Group Inc. Purchases 5,020 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 578,569 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,020 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Centene worth $42,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE CNC traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $77.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,855,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,165,393. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.57. The stock has a market cap of $41.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.41. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 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.