Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by SVB Wealth LLC

SVB Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,690 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,034 shares during the quarter. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sandy Spring Bank increased its holdings in Centene by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Centene by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Centene Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $75.15 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.57.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.