Centene Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors purchased 6,219 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,781 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays began coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded down $1.68 on Friday, hitting $74.00. The company had a trading volume of 6,382,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,098,969. Centene has a 52-week low of $60.83 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.32 and a 200 day moving average of $74.77. The company has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.