Centene (NYSE:CNC) Trading Up 3.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) shares were up 3.7% during trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $91.00 to $93.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Centene traded as high as $60.32 and last traded at $60.12. Approximately 2,088,749 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 4,078,045 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CNC. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.31.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher bought 17,200 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harris Associates L P boosted its holdings in Centene by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,799,000 after purchasing an additional 832,318 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,042,000 after purchasing an additional 636,683 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,126,000 after buying an additional 428,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in Centene by 42.3% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,838,000 after buying an additional 416,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $29.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $62.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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.