Oppenheimer Cuts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $43.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price decreased by Oppenheimer from $51.00 to $43.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

CNC has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Centene from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $65.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.31.

Centene Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $25.80 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.44. Centene has a one year low of $25.50 and a one year high of $80.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Centene by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,091,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,393,000 after acquiring an additional 536,508 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,820,000 after acquiring an additional 3,306,796 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Centene by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,917 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Centene by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,760,000 after purchasing an additional 443,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Centene by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,810,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,045,000 after purchasing an additional 143,573 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.