Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 12,050 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 824,260 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,050 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.16% of Centene worth $49,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the fourth 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. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Centene by 73.4% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co grew its position in Centene by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Centene by 75.3% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 773 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the third quarter worth about $66,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Up 1.0 %

CNC traded up $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.03. 5,511,138 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,663,938. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $60.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.52. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

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Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CNC. UBS Group raised Centene from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stephens dropped their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.