Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target Cut to $30.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Centene (NYSE:CNCFree Report) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $48.00 to $30.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on CNC. Mizuho decreased their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.31.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on CNC

Centene Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of CNC opened at $25.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.44. Centene has a 1 year low of $25.50 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNCGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,820,000 after buying an additional 3,306,796 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter worth $146,557,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 155.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,901,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,280 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 1,788.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 111.5% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,608,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,277 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

About Centene

(Get Free Report)

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.

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