Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives $80.92 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.92.

Several brokerages have commented on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares in the company, valued at $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 5.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 27,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,816,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 13.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 668,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,347,000 after acquiring an additional 78,005 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 94.2% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 5,489 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at $230,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 141.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 21,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 12,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $61.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $60.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $31.16 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.45. Centene has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

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.