Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Takes Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $400,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 84,741.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 225,379,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,483,403,000 after purchasing an additional 225,114,221 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $713,235,000. Harris Associates L P purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at $274,274,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 166.5% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,225,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,530,000 after acquiring an additional 2,014,866 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Centene by 5,586.9% in the 1st quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,683,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,653,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $70.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $37.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. Centene Co. has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CNC. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $94.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.