Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $56.07 Million Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 755,506 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 60,673 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.14% of Centene worth $56,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Sandy Spring Bank raised its stake in Centene by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 1,629 shares of the company's stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 1.5% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Centene by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 4,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 32,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,404,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $900,840.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays assumed coverage on Centene in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.25.

Centene Trading Down 2.2 %

CNC traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.00. 6,382,731 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,066,376. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene Co. has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $76.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.83.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.11 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.