Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 821 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,532 shares of the company’s stock after selling 821 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sigma Planning Corp purchased a new position in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at $210,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Centene by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 76,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,789,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 414,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,238,000 after purchasing an additional 30,141 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 98,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,379,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $59.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.53 and its 200 day moving average is $63.60.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price target 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. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.