Empirical Finance LLC Raises Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,805 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at about $914,080,000. Boston Partners increased its position in Centene by 0.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,033,000 after purchasing an additional 32,427 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Centene by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,117,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 60.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Centene by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,042,000 after buying an additional 636,683 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $57.45 on Friday. Centene Co. has a one year low of $57.25 and a one year high of $81.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $29.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.92.

Centene Company 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.