Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $64.82, but opened at $60.25. Centene shares last traded at $61.62, with a volume of 1,361,774 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.31.

Centene Trading Down 3.7 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.83, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.36. Centene had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 13.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. Analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $58.86 per share, for a total transaction of $294,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. This represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after buying an additional 111,654 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 3.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $434,255,000 after acquiring an additional 194,566 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 15.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after purchasing an additional 428,100 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490,935 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.