Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $72.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $76.00 to $72.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stephens dropped their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $56.87 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.08 and its 200-day moving average is $66.47. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $28.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.45. Centene has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $58.86 per share, with a total value of $294,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,780. This trade represents a 27.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CX Institutional grew its stake in Centene by 7.3% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Centene by 2.5% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 17.8% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $1,118,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $308,000. 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.