Signaturefd LLC Has $838,000 Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,288 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 832 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. QV Investors Inc. increased its position in Centene by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,350 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Centene by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,239,000 after acquiring an additional 231,931 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,941,000 after purchasing an additional 68,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Centene by 8.2% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 186,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,817,000 after buying an additional 14,070 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene 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 approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $75.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.38. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $60.83 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.51 and a 200-day moving average of $74.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $39.46 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. 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, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

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.