Beck Bode LLC Sells 2,258 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Beck Bode LLC lessened its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 65,650 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,258 shares during the period. Beck Bode LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Centene by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,351,000 after purchasing an additional 704,684 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Centene by 7.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,918,000 after acquiring an additional 408,525 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Centene by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,288,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,253,000 after acquiring an additional 187,958 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth $274,274,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 3.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,547,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,365,000 after acquiring an additional 102,480 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:CNC traded down $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $73.06. 4,507,356 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,140,155. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.10 and a 200-day moving average of $74.86.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays began coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Centene Company 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.