Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,146 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,884 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Centene were worth $613,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its position in Centene by 1,190.0% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Chris Bulman Inc purchased a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Riverview Trust Co grew its position in Centene by 154.6% during the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $64.22 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.31. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $59.77 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The firm has a market cap of $34.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $42.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.91 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.17.

Centene Company 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.