Truist Financial Corp Reduces Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 443,501 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,457 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $32,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. QV Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in Centene by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,655,000 after acquiring an additional 33,350 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Centene by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,239,000 after acquiring an additional 231,931 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Centene by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,941,000 after acquiring an additional 68,854 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Centene by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 286,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,239,000 after acquiring an additional 43,118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 2.2 %

CNC opened at $74.00 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.83. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The firm has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.25.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Centene 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 transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.