Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,294 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Harris Associates L P boosted its stake in Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Centene by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,255,000 after buying an additional 194,566 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CNC. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.31.

Centene Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $61.36 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.14. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 1.90%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.