Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,280 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,730 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of Centene by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after buying an additional 14,671 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd increased 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 buying an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted 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 acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $58.18 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $61.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CNC. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Company 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.