Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives $85.23 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.23.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in Centene in the first quarter worth $994,000. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,046,000 after purchasing an additional 98,298 shares in the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors raised its stake in Centene by 2.5% in the first quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 11,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in Centene by 7.1% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 674,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,965,000 after buying an additional 44,646 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of CNC opened at $77.65 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.48 and a 200 day moving average of $74.97.

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

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.