Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Position Boosted by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,119 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at $66,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 77.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in Centene by 588.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $56.87 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $61.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

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.