Centene (NYSE:CNC) Rating Reiterated by Oppenheimer

Centene (NYSE:CNC)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Oppenheimer in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $110.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer’s target price indicates a potential upside of 50.56% from the company’s current price.

CNC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays started coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.00.

Centene Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $73.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.38. Centene has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $76.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.