Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target Raised to $45.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $45.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

CNC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.44.

Centene Trading Up 1.0%

CNC opened at $43.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $21.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.21, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $43.25 and its 200-day moving average is $38.06. Centene has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.03.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,435,997,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the third quarter worth $186,662,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Centene by 52.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,171,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472,341 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

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.