Empowered Funds LLC Has $16.95 Million Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,783 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 41,327 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Centene worth $16,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,163 shares of the company's stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in Centene by 588.0% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.1 %

CNC stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $58.90. The company had a trading volume of 3,451,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,396,307. The stock has a market cap 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 quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.97. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42.

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 business 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 40,893 shares of company stock valued at $2,409,962 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.