Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives $85.23 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.23.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Centene Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $74.81 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Centene has a 1-year low of $60.83 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Centene

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

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,325,441,000. Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in Centene by 172.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 535.9% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548,961 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in Centene by 375.1% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,943,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Centene by 8.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,351,000 after purchasing an additional 704,684 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently 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.