Seizert Capital Partners LLC Has $4.75 Million Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Seizert Capital Partners LLC cut its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 30.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 78,440 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,701 shares during the quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 172.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew 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 during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $57.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $28.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 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 $80.59. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.82.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.