Insider Buying: Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) CFO Buys $1,000,008.00 in Stock

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $57.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.12. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.25 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $29.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.92.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Centene by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,478,000 after purchasing an additional 99,904 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Centene by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,046,000 after acquiring an additional 98,298 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Centene by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,385 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 189.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 15,819 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its position in shares of Centene by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,307,000 after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.