Greenleaf Trust Purchases 566 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,384 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 566 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Centene were worth $622,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Centene in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 this link. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Centene Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $75.59 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.51 and a 200 day moving average of $74.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

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

Centene Company 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.