ING Groep NV Decreases Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

ING Groep NV decreased its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,482 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,870 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV's holdings in Centene were worth $1,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $1,272,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Centene by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 141,935 shares of the company's stock worth $8,598,000 after buying an additional 3,340 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Centene by 648.8% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 274,695 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,641,000 after buying an additional 238,011 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in Centene by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 804,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,761,000 after acquiring an additional 105,000 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $167,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on 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 lowered their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reduced 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. One equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $57.72 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $61.03 and its 200 day moving average is $65.71. The stock has a market cap of $28.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 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 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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