SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires 267 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 73.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 631 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $38,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Centene Stock Up 1.0 %

Centene stock opened at $60.03 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $60.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.61.

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

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Company 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.