Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC Purchases 10,515 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 221,156 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $13,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in Centene by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 3,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Centene by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 16,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $570,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its holdings in Centene by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 77,763 shares of the company's stock worth $4,682,000 after buying an additional 14,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gries Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 74.2% in the 4th quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 5,136 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 2,187 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now 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. Insiders purchased a total of 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $60.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,698,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,210,748. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.10. The company has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 1.90%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised Centene from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.31.

Centene 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.