Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,664,940 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,243 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.69% of Centene worth $271,975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CNC. QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,655,000 after acquiring an additional 33,350 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Centene by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,239,000 after acquiring an additional 231,931 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Centene by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,941,000 after buying an additional 68,854 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Centene by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 452,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,761,000 after buying an additional 17,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on CNC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.23.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $75.86 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.11 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current 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.