Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 351 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,720,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CNC. Sandy Spring Bank increased its position in shares of Centene by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Centene by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in Centene by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $75.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.31, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.75 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.