Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Has $38,000 Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 58.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 499 shares of the company’s stock after selling 698 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Centene were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Centene by 7.3% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,307,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Centene in the first quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Centene by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 25,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,964,000 after acquiring an additional 2,944 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 526.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,413,000 after purchasing an additional 47,257 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 24.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 20,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,632,000 after purchasing an additional 4,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.92.

Centene Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $59.93 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $57.20 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.04. The firm has a market cap of $30.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.49.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.