Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Trims Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP reduced its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,566 shares of the company’s stock after selling 862 shares during the quarter. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Centene were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 8.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,351,000 after buying an additional 704,684 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Centene by 7.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,918,000 after purchasing an additional 408,525 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 187,958 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter worth $274,274,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,547,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,365,000 after acquiring an additional 102,480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,775,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,050,563. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. 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 company has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.74.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $39.46 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.