Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Seizert Capital Partners LLC

Seizert Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 2.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 76,207 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,233 shares during the quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Centene by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 16,108 shares in the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $610,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Centene by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 216,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,142,000 after buying an additional 100,039 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Centene by 32.3% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 30.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 708,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,026,000 after buying an additional 163,462 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNC. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Bank of America cut Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.31.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $25.55 on Wednesday. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.50 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $45.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%. Centene’s revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.