Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Fulton Bank N.A.

Fulton Bank N.A. reduced its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 59.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,909 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,791 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Centene were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Park Place Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Centene by 1,190.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at about $66,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 104.8% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNC. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.92.

Centene Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $61.72 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $31.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.