Brokerages Set Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Price Target at $85.23

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.23.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNC. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, 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. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. QV Investors Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,655,000 after purchasing an additional 33,350 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,239,000 after buying an additional 231,931 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Centene by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,941,000 after acquiring an additional 68,854 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in Centene by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 286,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,239,000 after purchasing an additional 43,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $74.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $39.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company’s fifty day moving average is $75.74 and its 200 day moving average is $74.90.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

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.