Somerset Trust Co Decreases Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Somerset Trust Co reduced its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Centene were worth $288,000 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. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 1,190.0% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 387 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 104.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.92.

Centene Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of CNC opened at $62.19 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.40 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.29% 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.