Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Sells 3,590 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,058 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,590 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $9,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 3.2% in the first quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Centene by 2.8% in the first quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in Centene by 6.0% in the first quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Centene by 6.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Centene by 0.3% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 97,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,910,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $34.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $70.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.56.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.