Centene (NYSE:CNC) Given New $45.00 Price Target at Barclays

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $65.00 to $45.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Centene from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Centene in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.87.

Centene Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $33.28 on Wednesday. Centene has a 1 year low of $33.30 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.05. The company has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a PE ratio of 4.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 2.04%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.26 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,589,000. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Centene by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $433,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 59.2% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 2,955 shares during the period. 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.