Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Decreases Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lessened its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,856 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Centene were worth $211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Centene by 84,741.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 225,379,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,483,403,000 after buying an additional 225,114,221 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Centene by 8.7% during 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. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $713,235,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Centene by 7.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,918,000 after acquiring an additional 408,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Centene by 3.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,288,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,253,000 after acquiring an additional 187,958 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $73.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.53. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on CNC. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays began coverage on Centene in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

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.