Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Increases Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,236 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Centene by 1,190.0% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 77.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 588.0% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. This represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens decreased their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.92.

Centene Trading Down 0.8 %

CNC opened at $64.61 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $32.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.24. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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.