Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Director Buys $1,015,750.00 in Stock

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Centene Trading Up 0.4 %

CNC stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $59.71. 16,574,676 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,178,431. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Centene by 17.9% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 8,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Centene by 459.2% in the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group lifted its stake in Centene by 192.8% during the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 13,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 8,962 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,117,000 after buying an additional 25,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 168,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.92.

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.