Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.00.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $79.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Mizuho decreased their target price on Centene from $92.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Centene from $97.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Centene from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $94.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 8th.

Centene Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $65.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $36.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. Centene has a one year low of $61.71 and a one year high of $98.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.14 and a 200-day moving average of $74.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.12). Centene had a return on equity of 13.61% and a net margin of 1.01%. The business had revenue of $38.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $62.60 per share, with a total value of $1,878,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 313,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,653,457.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $62.60 per share, with a total value of $1,878,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 313,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,653,457.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.59, for a total transaction of $93,226.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $566,547.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene by 84,741.9% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 225,379,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,483,403,000 after purchasing an additional 225,114,221 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $713,235,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in Centene by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,959,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,146,573,000 after acquiring an additional 4,839,483 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Centene by 1,837.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,056,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,935,000 after acquiring an additional 2,898,790 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 510.8% during the 1st quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,473,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,374,000 after buying an additional 2,068,878 shares in the last quarter. 93.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Company Profile

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Centene Corp. operates as a healthcare enterprise, which engages in the provision of programs and services to government sponsored healthcare programs. It operates through the following segments: Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in St. Louis, MO.