Insider Selling: Centene (NYSE:CNC) General Counsel Sells 56,500 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Centene General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares at an average price of $66.90, generating approximately $3.78 million and reducing his holdings by 18.5% to 248,854 shares.
• Koster also sold 47,603 shares on August 18 for about $3.11 million, indicating more than $6.89 million in insider sales within the month.
• Centene reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $2.51 in EPS and $53.58 billion in revenue, while the stock traded near $65.23; analysts’ consensus rating remains Hold with a $70.05 price target.

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Christopher Koster also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of Centene stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock traded down $0.24 on Thursday, hitting $65.23. The company had a trading volume of 3,647,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,861,675. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.24 and a 12-month high of $69.36. The stock has a market cap of $32.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $65.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.98.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in Centene during the second quarter valued at about $41,512,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Centene by 5,937.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 46,149,208 shares of the company's stock worth $2,962,318,000 after purchasing an additional 45,384,854 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth about $312,000. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Centene by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,162 shares of the company's stock valued at $819,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,774 shares of the company's stock worth $2,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Centene from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.05.

About Centene

Centene Corporation NYSE: CNC is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene's offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.

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