Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Centene Put Options (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 20,784 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 64% compared to the average daily volume of 12,635 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 5,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 23,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,353,780. The trade was a 27.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 40,893 shares of company stock valued at $2,409,962. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 693.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after buying an additional 1,490,935 shares during the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its position in Centene by 5.7% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. Amundi raised its position in shares of Centene by 77.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,425 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,736,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 4,390.8% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 687,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,668,000 after purchasing an additional 672,498 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $57.53. 1,530,034 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,284,393. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. Centene has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene will post 6.97 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.31.

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.