Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC Acquires Shares of 4,251 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after buying an additional 1,490,935 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its position in Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd 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 increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 27.3% during the 4th 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, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter worth $19,464,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 7.3 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $56.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Centene

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.