Wells Fargo & Company Raises Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $93.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CNC. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Stephens restated an equal weight rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $85.38.

Centene Trading Down 0.4 %

CNC opened at $71.98 on Monday. Centene has a twelve month low of $60.83 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.66 and a 200-day moving average of $74.53. The stock has a market cap of $38.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centene will post 6.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

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

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vicus Capital increased its holdings in Centene by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 3,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 562 shares during the period. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter worth approximately $202,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 38,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,028,000 after acquiring an additional 3,963 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth $396,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth $60,000. Institutional investors 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.