Sanctuary Advisors LLC Sells 6,220 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,935 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,220 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after acquiring an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 68.4% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd raised its position in shares of Centene by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 17.1% in the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,478,000 after buying an additional 99,904 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Centene by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $57.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.06 and a 200-day moving average of $65.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on CNC. Stephens reduced their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.