11,218 Shares in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Purchased by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,218 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harris Associates L P lifted its position in Centene by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 3.5% during 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 valued at $434,255,000 after buying an additional 194,566 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Centene by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company's stock worth $364,117,000 after buying an additional 25,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Centene by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company's stock worth $339,042,000 after buying an additional 636,683 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target 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. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a "hold" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.31.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC traded up $1.42 on Friday, reaching $59.42. 7,063,954 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,099,720. The firm has a market cap of $30.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.62. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. This represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.