28,050 Shares in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Purchased by Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 28,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,699,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Centene by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 47,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,582,000 after purchasing an additional 21,700 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in shares of Centene by 285.9% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 3,674 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 12.0% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 4,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.31.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 40,893 shares of company stock valued at $2,409,962 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $58.95 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.23 and a 200 day moving average of $66.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45.

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