Investors Buy Large Volume of Centene Call Options (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 17,741 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 92% compared to the average volume of 9,244 call options.

Centene Stock Down 3.5 %

CNC stock opened at $62.56 on Thursday. Centene has a 52-week low of $59.77 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.49.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Centene by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,046,000 after purchasing an additional 98,298 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 435.0% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Centene by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,385 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 189.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 15,819 shares during the period. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Centene by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,307,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.92.

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.