Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Stock Position Decreased by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 90,628 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,671 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harris Associates L P bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $274,274,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 535.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548,961 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Centene by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,351,000 after buying an additional 704,684 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Centene by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,395,000 after buying an additional 648,620 shares during the period. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C increased its position in Centene by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,990,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,071,000 after buying an additional 641,000 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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 value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE CNC opened at $76.19 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.75. The company has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned 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 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.