Centene (NYSE:CNC) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $110.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a neutral rating and a $83.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Centene to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $84.93.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $67.92 on Friday. Centene has a 1-year low of $60.83 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.47.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total value of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter valued at about $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Centene by 0.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,033,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Centene by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,023,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,918,000 after acquiring an additional 408,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

About Centene

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.