139,967 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC Acquired by Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. bought a new position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 139,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,695,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Centene by 423.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10,757,914 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Centene by 12.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,517,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,173,000 after buying an additional 608,249 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Centene by 21.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,518,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,818,000 after buying an additional 802,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth $285,713,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on Centene in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.05.

Centene Trading Up 0.6%

CNC opened at $70.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.63 and a fifty-two week high of $71.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.76, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) is a healthcare enterprise that provides health insurance and related services, primarily through government-sponsored programs. Its offerings include Medicaid plans, Medicare products, health plans sold through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, and services for military families through government-sponsored healthcare programs.

The company also provides pharmacy, behavioral health, specialty healthcare, care management and administrative services through various subsidiaries and partner organizations.