Truist Financial Corp Sells 17,088 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,583 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,088 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought 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 owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 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, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Centene Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $57.72 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $61.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.84. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.