Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 12,535 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $759,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth $325,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Centene by 25.0% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 52,348 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,471,000 after purchasing an additional 10,453 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Centene by 9.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 100,489 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,662,000 after purchasing an additional 8,505 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in Centene by 21,633.3% in the second quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 6,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $432,000 after purchasing an additional 6,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Centene by 2.0% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 88,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of Centene 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised Centene from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.92.

Centene Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $1.62 on Thursday, hitting $65.15. The company had a trading volume of 4,276,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,231,533. 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 $60.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.31, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

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.