Fore Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 20,000 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Fore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,212,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Centene by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on CNC shares. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens dropped their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE CNC opened at $58.48 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $29.01 billion, a PE ratio of 9.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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.