Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 111,734 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 676,274 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 111,734 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.13% of Centene worth $50,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.98. 3,064,304 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,056,916. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $38.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The company had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com cut Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.38.

Centene Company 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.