Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 10,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, 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 transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The transaction 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 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. 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, StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Six investment 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.23.

Centene Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $74.81. 4,706,732 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,598,060. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $75.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.90. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.