Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 275,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,984 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Centene were worth $21,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $82.86.

Centene Stock Up 0.8 %

CNC stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $73.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,671,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,460,894. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Centene Company 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.