Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.40, but opened at $36.79. Centene shares last traded at $35.7860, with a volume of 1,427,055 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on CNC. Argus upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho set a $41.00 target price on shares of Centene and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.81.

Centene Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. Centene’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 anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,344,676,000 after purchasing an additional 190,334 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143,904 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 514,600 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after purchasing an additional 697,277 shares during the period. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its holdings in Centene by 184.0% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.