Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $53.74 Million Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 887,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,736,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Centene as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in Centene by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Centene by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Centene by 6.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Down 1.4 %

Centene stock opened at $58.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.15. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

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Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company's stock, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% 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.

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