Centene (NYSE:CNC) PT Raised to $82.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective hoisted by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $81.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $85.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Centene in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an overweight rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $85.23.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $74.33 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.85 and a 200-day moving average of $74.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $39.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.41. Centene has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

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

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter worth $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Centene during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other 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.