Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Raises Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,112,397 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 467,246 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.77% of Centene worth $305,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $77.11. 3,452,537 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,181,875. The company has a market cap of $41.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50 day moving average is $75.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.10. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

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 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.11 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com raised Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays upped their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $85.23.

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.