Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by Vantage Investment Partners LLC

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 793,656 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 109,839 shares during the quarter. Centene makes up 4.2% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Vantage Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.16% of Centene worth $48,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 70.3% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 20,319 shares of the company's stock worth $1,347,000 after buying an additional 8,387 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,374,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 14.5% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 328,549 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,783,000 after purchasing an additional 41,671 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 0.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 378,149 shares of the company's stock worth $25,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Centene by 64.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 32,481 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,154,000 after buying an additional 12,674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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 note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded down $1.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $64.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,508,303 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,040,483. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $32.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.77 and a 200-day moving average of $67.24.

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.