Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Robert W. Baird Analyst Says

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $66.00 to $71.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.74% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on CNC. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.31.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $60.82 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $61.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.10. The stock has a market cap of $30.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 0.85 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Centene will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. This represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 27.2% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 15,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 3,410 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Centene by 5.4% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 107,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,067,000 after acquiring an additional 5,463 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 5,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 9,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $730,000 after buying an additional 2,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 18,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.