E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Buys 3,760 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 116.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,984 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,760 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $423,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in Centene by 5.7% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Centene by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 3.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 194,566 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,412,000 after purchasing an additional 130,895 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after purchasing an additional 428,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CNC shares. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial cut their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 over the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE CNC opened at $60.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.82 and a 200-day moving average of $64.52. The company has a market cap of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

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