Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $61.58, but opened at $58.40. Centene shares last traded at $57.22, with a volume of 1,320,242 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $53.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.69.

Centene Stock Down 6.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.89. The company has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.26 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,053,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Centene by 1,788.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,033,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,582 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Centene by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.