FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co Has $233,000 Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,851 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 712 shares during the quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Centene were worth $233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 208,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,619,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the last quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $258,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 15,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 5,712 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council boosted its stake in Centene by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 314,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,046,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $56.83 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.43.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.