Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by abrdn plc

abrdn plc reduced its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 165,167 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,305 shares during the period. abrdn plc's holdings in Centene were worth $9,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth $66,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 77.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 588.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.31.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $58.90. 3,450,889 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,395,492. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.97. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $29.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.