Bridgewater Associates LP Grows Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 467,245 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,241 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.09% of Centene worth $35,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Comerica Bank grew its position in Centene by 7.3% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,307,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the period. LBP AM SA grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 97.7% during the 1st quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 11,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 5,794 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Centene by 2,751.0% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 19,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after purchasing an additional 19,257 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the first quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth about $914,080,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays decreased their target price on Centene from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.92.

Centene Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $60.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene Co. has a one year low of $57.20 and a one year high of $81.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.42, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.49.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Company 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.