Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 17,062 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC cut its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 264,974 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,062 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $16,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $66,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 77.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in Centene by 588.0% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of CNC opened at $56.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $81.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.54.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.