Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 7,229 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 38.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,034 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,229 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth $66,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 77.3% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 588.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CNC. StockNews.com cut Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.31.

Centene Price Performance

CNC traded down $0.04 on Monday, hitting $58.90. 3,451,076 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,396,307. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.97.

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

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.