Impax Asset Management Group plc Has $922,000 Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 60.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,212 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,712 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Centene were worth $922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 65,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,941,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $61.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.49. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

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.