International Assets Investment Management LLC Acquires Shares of 37,921 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 37,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,140,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CNC. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 1.5% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust increased its position in Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 7,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Centene by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Centene

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

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $74.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.17. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $39.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.84.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.23.

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.