Centene (NYSE:CNC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CNC. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays increased their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Baird R W raised Centene to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $84.93.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $68.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Centene will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Centene in the first quarter valued at $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 172.8% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,450 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Centene by 0.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,033,000 after purchasing an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Centene by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,918,000 after purchasing an additional 408,525 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Centene

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.