Centene Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 12,127 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 72% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,054 put options.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Centene by 423.0% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10,757,914 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Centene by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,517,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,173,000 after buying an additional 608,249 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Centene by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,518,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,818,000 after purchasing an additional 802,756 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth $285,713,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Argus raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, October 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.05.

Centene Trading Down 3.0%

CNC stock traded down $2.13 during trading on Monday, hitting $68.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,848,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,574,341. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Centene has a 12 month low of $31.63 and a 12 month high of $72.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.13. The stock has a market cap of $33.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.52, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. The company had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Centene will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.