Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $63.53, but opened at $64.94. Centene shares last traded at $63.82, with a volume of 278,273 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CNC. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.92.

Centene Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $32.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.26.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,478,000 after purchasing an additional 99,904 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd boosted its position in Centene by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Centene by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Centene by 31.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 118,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,944,000 after purchasing an additional 28,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,435,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,063,000 after acquiring an additional 191,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.