Western Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Western Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Harris Associates L P purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth $274,274,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Centene by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,351,000 after buying an additional 704,684 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C raised its holdings in Centene by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 1,990,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,071,000 after buying an additional 641,000 shares during the period. Scout Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,137,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Centene by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,512,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,198,000 after buying an additional 479,925 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays started coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related 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 value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’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 value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of 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. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $75.59 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $40.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.70.

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

About Centene

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.