Centene (NYSE:CNC) Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on CNC. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a neutral rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Baird R W raised Centene to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $83.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $84.93.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $65.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $34.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.86. Centene has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its holdings in Centene by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,298,000 after buying an additional 112,605 shares during the period. QV Investors Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,655,000 after buying an additional 33,350 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in Centene by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,239,000 after acquiring an additional 231,931 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Centene by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,320,000 after acquiring an additional 51,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $2,349,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.