JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $41.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $41.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Centene from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho set a $41.00 target price on Centene and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.81.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $34.36 on Thursday. Centene has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $66.03. The firm has a market cap of $16.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The business had revenue of $49.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. Research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Centene by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,396,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,169,768,000 after purchasing an additional 869,706 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Centene by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after buying an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Centene during the second quarter worth approximately $1,435,997,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Centene by 2.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,186,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,586,000 after acquiring an additional 514,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,338,000 after acquiring an additional 697,277 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.