21,560 Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC Bought by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 21,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Centene by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Bayban acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 305,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,957,937.44. This represents a 13.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $65.35 on Thursday. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.24 and a 1-year high of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.98. The company has a market cap of $32.28 billion, a PE ratio of -6.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on CNC shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho set a $63.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 target price on Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.05.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.