Centene (NYSE:CNC) PT Raised to $89.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective boosted by TD Cowen from $80.00 to $89.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a neutral rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Baird R W raised Centene to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $83.86.

Centene Stock Up 0.2 %

Centene stock opened at $78.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Centene has a 12 month low of $60.83 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.69.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Centene in the first quarter valued at $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in Centene by 172.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after buying an additional 6,881,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Centene by 60.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after buying an additional 1,959,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 535.9% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,396,000 after buying an additional 1,548,961 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Company 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.