Brokerages Set Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Target Price at $40.00

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

CNC has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $41.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Centene from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Centene in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Addison Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 455.6% in the 3rd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 44.5% in the third quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in Centene by 11,011.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $37.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.97. Centene has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $66.81. The firm has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. The firm had revenue of $49.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect 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.