Christopher Koster Sells 47,603 Shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 305,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,957,937.44. This trade represents a 13.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $64.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $28.24 and a 52-week high of $69.36. The firm has a market cap of $31.73 billion, a PE ratio of -6.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $64.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.31.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,344,676,000 after purchasing an additional 190,334 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,660,422,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Centene by 423.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,805,000 after buying an additional 10,757,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,338,000 after buying an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 price target on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.05.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.