Traders Purchase High Volume of Centene Call Options (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 18,448 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 206% compared to the average volume of 6,033 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Centene in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.87.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $33.28 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $55.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $59.05. Centene has a 12 month low of $33.30 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.96, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 2.04%. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.