Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Director Acquires $99,903.93 in Stock

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Centene Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE:CNC traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.81. 7,270,655 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,120,537. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.41.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Centene by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 21.8% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 7,549 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Centene during the third quarter worth about $211,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Centene by 18.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 60,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 9,287 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $844,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Stephens cut their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.92.

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.