US Bancorp DE Lowers Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

US Bancorp DE reduced its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,095,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 120,517 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned 0.22% of Centene worth $66,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $3,589,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 155,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,412,000 after purchasing an additional 38,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of Centene by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 712 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 0.2 %

CNC opened at $58.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $28.80 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.18.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade 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 valued at $1,409,954 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.