Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 46,204 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 575,460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,204 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $34,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 588.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 quarter, insiders purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of CNC opened at $57.72 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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.