Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. Reduces Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. cut its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 256,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,800 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V.’s holdings in Centene were worth $19,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Centene by 84,741.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 225,379,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,483,403,000 after acquiring an additional 225,114,221 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Centene by 8.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,351,000 after acquiring an additional 704,684 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $713,235,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Centene by 7.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,918,000 after buying an additional 408,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Centene by 3.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,288,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,253,000 after buying an additional 187,958 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays began coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, December 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.08.

Centene Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,918,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,098,985. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $37.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.47. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of 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 at this hyperlink. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of 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 at this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.