Court Place Advisors LLC Sells 200 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Court Place Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 1,401.4% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,247 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of Centene by 104.7% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after buying an additional 22,382 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 10.0% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 37,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

CNC traded down $0.28 on Wednesday, reaching $71.98. The stock had a trading volume of 3,064,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,056,916. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $76.72 and a 200-day moving average of $74.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $38.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its 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. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Barclays assumed coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group raised their price objective on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

About Centene

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.