Centene (NYSE:CNC) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on CNC. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.06.

Centene Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $35.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.27, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Centene has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $66.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.73.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $49.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.50 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. This represents a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Quarry LP bought a new position in Centene during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 44.5% during the 3rd quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 11,011.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. 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.