Centene Corporation $CNC Stock Acquired by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 132.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 133,261 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,967 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $8,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.7% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Journey Retirement Planning & Investment Management LLC raised its position in Centene by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Journey Retirement Planning & Investment Management LLC now owns 4,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Centene by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 11,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in Centene by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $46.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, October 9th. UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.05.

Centene Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE CNC opened at $71.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $35.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.63 and a 12 month high of $72.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.74 and a 200-day moving average of $60.88.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.