Victory Capital Management Inc. Buys 32,250 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 458,273 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,250 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of Centene worth $34,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.23.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $75.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Centene Co. has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $75.64 and a 200 day moving average of $74.92.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Centene 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.