West Family Investments Inc. Buys New Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC

West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 9,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth $257,279,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,222,000. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth approximately $1,659,000. Paralel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,531,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,134,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CNC. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Argus raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Centene from $46.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on Centene in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $64.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.84 and a 1-year high of $69.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.61.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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.