Truist Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price hoisted by Truist Financial from $47.00 to $49.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Centene from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $42.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.14, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.48. Centene has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.03.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Centene by 66.0% in the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 85,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,041,000 after acquiring an additional 33,875 shares during the last quarter. Packer & Co Ltd acquired a new stake in Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,487,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in Centene by 122.5% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 223,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,962,000 after purchasing an additional 122,870 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at $21,485,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,384,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,724,000 after buying an additional 199,016 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.