Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC cut its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 39.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 233,593 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150,444 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $17,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Centene

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $94.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.08.

Centene Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of CNC opened at $70.73 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $37.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $76.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.50. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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