Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Has $3.37 Million Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 55,700 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Centene during the third quarter worth about $66,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 77.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 588.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962 in the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Up 0.5 %

CNC stock opened at $58.95 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. 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 $81.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.96.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.97 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.