Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $80.92.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Centene Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE CNC opened at $62.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.08 and its 200-day moving average is $67.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $81.42.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,567,523.20. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 17.1% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,478,000 after acquiring an additional 99,904 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Centene by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 31.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 118,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,944,000 after purchasing an additional 28,175 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,435,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,063,000 after acquiring an additional 191,768 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its stake in Centene by 273.5% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 44,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,334,000 after purchasing an additional 32,428 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is 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.