New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 82,733 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 724,203 shares of the company's stock after selling 82,733 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.14% of Centene worth $53,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were 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 $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,775,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,050,563. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $76.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.74. The company has a market cap of $40.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on CNC shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $101.00 target price on the stock. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.38.

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.