Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,929 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,119 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $7,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Centene by 693.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,425 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth $53,736,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $58.61 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $60.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.15. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $29.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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.