Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.93.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its position in Centene by 52.4% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,298,000 after acquiring an additional 112,605 shares in the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. raised its position in Centene by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,655,000 after acquiring an additional 33,350 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in Centene by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,239,000 after acquiring an additional 231,931 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Centene by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,320,000 after acquiring an additional 51,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth $2,349,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $67.92 on Friday. Centene has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $36.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.12.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.