Brokerages Set Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) PT at $79.92

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $79.92.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $58.65 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.95 and a 200-day moving average of $64.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. Centene has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.01 per share, for a total transaction of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 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.