Forsta AP Fonden Boosts Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 206,800 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Centene were worth $12,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in Centene by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after acquiring an additional 14,671 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Centene by 17.1% in the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,478,000 after acquiring an additional 99,904 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd grew its position in Centene by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Centene by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,654 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Centene by 31.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 118,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,944,000 after acquiring an additional 28,175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,567,523.20. This represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 directly owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276 over the last ninety days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $63.89 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $60.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.21. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

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.