Centene (NYSE:CNC) Given New $68.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective upped by Sanford C. Bernstein from $48.00 to $68.00 in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s target price suggests a potential upside of 24.92% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Centene from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on Centene from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Centene from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.82.

Centene Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $54.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.49. Centene has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $64.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The company had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.90 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,676,000 after acquiring an additional 190,334 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after acquiring an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Centene by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,456,000 after acquiring an additional 603,585 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.