CIBC Asset Management Inc Has $4.71 Million Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 77,798 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P grew its stake in Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after purchasing an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at about $236,940,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated 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. Stephens cut their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of CNC opened at $57.81 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.26, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.45. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.03 and a 200-day moving average of $66.09.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 7.01 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.