Centene (NYSE:CNC) Earns Overweight Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Centene (NYSE:CNC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 63.01% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Centene from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.62.

Centene Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of CNC stock traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $55.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,337,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,056,327. Centene has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. This represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. This represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harris Associates L P boosted its position in Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Centene by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,799,000 after acquiring an additional 832,318 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Centene by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,042,000 after buying an additional 636,683 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in shares of Centene by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,838,000 after buying an additional 416,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.