Centene (NYSE:CNC) Given New $97.00 Price Target at Barclays

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $98.00 to $97.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Centene to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a neutral rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $85.75.

Centene Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $72.67 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $38.78 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.50. Centene has a 52-week low of $62.50 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $72.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of Centene by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 327,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,298,000 after buying an additional 112,605 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Centene by 18.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,046,000 after acquiring an additional 98,298 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 435.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 16,304 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Centene by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 7,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Centene by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 947,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,320,000 after purchasing an additional 51,878 shares during 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.