Investors Buy High Volume of Put Options on Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 6,219 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the typical volume of 3,781 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $74.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.80. The company has a market cap of $39.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.38. Centene has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.25.

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.