LPL Financial LLC Purchases 16,698 Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,626 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $14,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 203.1% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 273.8% in the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 927 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Centene Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $25.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.11 and a 52-week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. Analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.