Centene (NYSE:CNC) General Counsel Christopher Koster Sells 47,603 Shares of Stock

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total value of $3,111,332.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 305,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,957,937.44. This represents a 13.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Centene Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Centene stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $64.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,879,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,948,013. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.24 and a 1 year high of $69.36.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,676,000 after acquiring an additional 190,334 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,660,422,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Centene by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Centene by 423.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,805,000 after buying an additional 10,757,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after purchasing an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price target on Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.05.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.