Everpar Advisors LLC Takes Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. QV Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,655,000 after buying an additional 33,350 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,239,000 after buying an additional 231,931 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,941,000 after buying an additional 68,854 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 286,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,239,000 after buying an additional 43,118 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $75.90. 2,490,017 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,186,384. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $75.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.95.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.