Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,839 shares of the company’s stock after selling 305 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. UBS Group increased their price target on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $72.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.72 and a 200 day moving average of $74.55.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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.