Ieq Capital LLC Has $16.64 Million Stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 648.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 274,695 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 238,011 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC owned 0.05% of Centene worth $16,641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harris Associates L P raised its position in Centene by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Centene by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after buying an additional 111,654 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Centene by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,255,000 after buying an additional 194,566 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Centene by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Centene by 693.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after buying an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Stephens decreased their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $57.81 on Thursday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $29.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.