Plato Investment Management Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2,751.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,957 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,257 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Centene stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $77.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,525,327 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,518,313. The stock has a market cap of $40.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.50. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.50.

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.