Sigma Planning Corp Acquires New Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sigma Planning Corp bought a new stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oxbow Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 4.6% in the third quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 64,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,879,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 18.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 4,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Centene by 193.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 2,398 shares during the period. Seascape Capital Management increased its position in shares of Centene by 1.0% during the third quarter. Seascape Capital Management now owns 41,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,097,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 72.1% in the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 15,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 6,302 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.92.

Centene Stock Down 2.1 %

CNC opened at $57.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Centene Co. has a one year low of $57.25 and a one year high of $81.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.99.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Centene

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.