D.A. Davidson & CO. Invests $3.38 Million in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 55,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in Centene by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 6.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its holdings in Centene by 5.5% in the third quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 5,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in Centene by 14.9% in the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Up 1.5 %

Centene stock opened at $58.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.03. 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 announced 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. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.