Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $89.00 to $93.00. The stock had previously closed at $70.73, but opened at $75.73. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Centene shares last traded at $73.28, with a volume of 1,120,956 shares changing hands.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1,401.4% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,247 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Centene by 104.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,684,000 after acquiring an additional 22,382 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the first quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its position in Centene by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 37,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after purchasing an additional 3,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 3.4 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $39.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.75 EPS 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.