Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Trims Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,885 shares of the company’s stock after selling 465 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 5.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 6.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oxbow Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 65,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,941,000 after buying an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC opened at $58.06 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm 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%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.