Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lowered its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,583 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,088 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Centene were worth $6,033,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Centene by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company's stock worth $1,766,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,654 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 3.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company's stock worth $434,255,000 after acquiring an additional 194,566 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 15.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company's stock worth $241,126,000 after acquiring an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company's stock worth $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock traded up $0.71 on Monday, hitting $58.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,252,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,442,177. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.71. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $28.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. One 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.92.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 in the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is 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.