West Family Investments Inc. Acquires Shares of 9,373 Centene Corporation $CNC

West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Bayban acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total value of $3,111,332.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 305,354 shares in the company, valued at $19,957,937.44. The trade was a 13.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $64.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.16. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.24 and a 1 year high of $69.36.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The company had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.16) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.05.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.