Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Bought by Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC.

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,954 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC.’s holdings in Centene were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $1,325,441,000. Harris Associates L P lifted its position in shares of Centene by 172.8% during the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after buying an additional 6,881,450 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 535.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548,961 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its holdings in Centene by 375.1% during the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,943,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Centene by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 2,161,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,395,000 after purchasing an additional 648,620 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.6 %

Centene stock traded down $0.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.37. The company had a trading volume of 2,735,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,676,076. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.56. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $60.83 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $35.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.93.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% 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.