Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 217 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,722 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter valued at approximately $914,080,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Centene by 60.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959,460 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 22.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,799,000 after purchasing an additional 832,318 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Centene by 14.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,042,000 after purchasing an additional 636,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its holdings in Centene by 42.3% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,838,000 after purchasing an additional 416,003 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now 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. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Centene from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.92.

Centene Trading Down 2.1 %

CNC opened at $57.46 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $57.25 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $68.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $29.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.98, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.49.

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.