Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target Lowered to $72.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price target trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CNC. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Argus lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $56.87 on Friday. Centene has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.08 and its 200-day moving average is $66.66.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 23,693 shares of company stock valued at $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Centene by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.