Centene Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 20,784 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 64% compared to the average volume of 12,635 put options.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock traded down $1.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,530,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,284,393. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens dropped their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.31.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in Centene by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Centene by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.