South Dakota Investment Council Sells 10,400 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 319,097 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,400 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned about 0.06% of Centene worth $23,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 2,630 shares during the period. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Centene by 8.7% during the third quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 31,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after buying an additional 2,537 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 512,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,302,000 after acquiring an additional 107,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Centene by 45.7% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 94,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,519,000 after acquiring an additional 29,676 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded up $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.84. 1,655,534 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,054,084. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.70. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $40.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

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.