Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders purchased 15,556 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 62% compared to the typical volume of 9,617 put options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Centene by 20.3% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 57,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,783,000 after acquiring an additional 9,612 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $285,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 47.9% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,716 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at $132,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Centene by 17.9% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 8,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.31.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $59.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The business’s 50 day moving average is $62.28 and its 200-day moving average is $68.73.

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.