Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by Oppenheimer in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $110.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer's target price points to a potential upside of 61.96% from the stock's previous close.
A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CNC. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Baird R W raised Centene to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.93.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CNC
Centene Price Performance
NYSE:CNC traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $67.92. The company had a trading volume of 5,482,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,298,974. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.12. Centene has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.
Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Activity
In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth about $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 172.8% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company's stock worth $806,170,000 after buying an additional 6,881,450 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company's stock worth $678,033,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Centene by 7.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company's stock valued at $414,918,000 after purchasing an additional 408,525 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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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