Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.92.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director H James Dallas purchased 1,693 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at $99,903.93. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 23,693 shares of company stock worth $1,409,954 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Centene by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Centene by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 951 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Centene by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 273,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,561,000 after purchasing an additional 11,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $804,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $56.83 on Thursday. Centene has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $65.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.