Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 12,127 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 72% compared to the typical volume of 7,054 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, October 9th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price objective on Centene in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price objective on Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Centene by 423.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,805,000 after buying an additional 10,757,914 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $285,713,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Centene during the second quarter worth approximately $257,279,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at $244,463,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of CNC traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $68.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,848,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,574,341. Centene has a 1-year low of $31.63 and a 1-year high of $72.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.13. The stock has a market cap of $33.61 billion, a PE ratio of -6.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.