Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $182,000. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of Centene by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 83,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,174,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Centene by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,395,000 after buying an additional 648,620 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 535.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548,961 shares during the period. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,789,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $77.65 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.97. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.44 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CNC. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.23.

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.