Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Boosts Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) by 588.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,898 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Centene were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth about $25,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth about $51,000. James Investment Research Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $51,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 24.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 856 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.28% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $62.60 per share, for a total transaction of $1,878,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 313,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,653,457.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sarah London purchased 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $62.60 per share, for a total transaction of $1,878,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 313,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,653,457.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $71.89 per share, with a total value of $215,670.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 310,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,354,554.95. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 46,750 shares of company stock worth $3,091,605. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Centene from $104.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Centene from $97.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Cowen reduced their price target on Centene from $101.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $94.00 to $79.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.94.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $62.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.56. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $61.82 and a 1 year high of $98.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $35.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.37 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 12.98% and a net margin of 0.83%. The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, December 16th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Centene Company Profile

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Centene Corp. operates as a healthcare enterprise, which engages in the provision of programs and services to government sponsored healthcare programs. It operates through the following segments: Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.