Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 458,273 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,250 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $34,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.23.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $75.14 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.92. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $40.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

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.