Brighton Jones LLC Lowers Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Brighton Jones LLC decreased its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Centene during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.23.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $74.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.84. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.