Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $38.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 0.13% from the stock’s previous close.

CNC has been the topic of several other research reports. Argus raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Barclays set a $44.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Centene from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $44.00 price target on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.44.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $1.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.06. The company had a trading volume of 928,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,221,786. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $66.03.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.80 EPS. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,396,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,169,768,000 after purchasing an additional 869,706 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,435,997,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Centene by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,186,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,586,000 after acquiring an additional 514,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after purchasing an additional 697,277 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.