Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives $80.92 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $81.31.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Centene Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $58.51 on Friday. Centene has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $61.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $29.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Centene will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Centene by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in Centene by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.