Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $35.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective dropped by Wells Fargo & Company from $41.00 to $35.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 3.82% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $42.00 price target on Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays set a $44.00 target price on Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.47.

Centene Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.39. The company had a trading volume of 1,686,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,575,494. Centene has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $66.81. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $34.55 and its 200-day moving average is $40.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.89 billion, a PE ratio of -3.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.The business had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in Centene by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 3.7% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 99,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,040,000 after buying an additional 3,574 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the first quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 66.2% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 146,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,895,000 after buying an additional 58,336 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.