California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 648,620 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 42.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,161,362 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 648,620 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Centene were worth $160,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harris Associates L P purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $274,274,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 535.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,396,000 after buying an additional 1,548,961 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 8.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,351,000 after buying an additional 704,684 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 47.5% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,990,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,071,000 after buying an additional 641,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter worth about $39,137,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $76.19. 354,352 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,036,715. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

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.