Truist Financial Cuts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $35.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price cut by Truist Financial from $42.00 to $35.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America cut shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $48.00 target price (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.31.

Centene Stock Up 1.1%

Centene stock opened at $25.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.44. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $25.50 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $44.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.11.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,820,000 after buying an additional 3,306,796 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter worth $146,557,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 155.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,901,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,802,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,280 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 1,788.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,582 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 111.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,608,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902,277 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.