Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Bought by O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 61.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,570 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 45,937 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $9,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 16.9% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Elevatus Welath Management grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 44.7% during the first quarter. Elevatus Welath Management now owns 59,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,687,000 after buying an additional 18,440 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 38.3% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 1,560 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 69.0% in the first quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 90,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,128,000 after purchasing an additional 37,087 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 30.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,259,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,820,000 after purchasing an additional 296,086 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:CNC traded up $1.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $66.26. The stock had a trading volume of 2,920,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,397,572. The company has a market capitalization of $35.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.89.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 report on Monday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

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

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.