By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Argus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.
CNC has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens dropped their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.31.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Centene
Centene Price Performance
CNC stock opened at $60.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $30.71 billion, a PE ratio of 10.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $61.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.10.
Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 1.90%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the transaction, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. The trade was a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Centene
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after acquiring an additional 10,515 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in Centene by 68.4% in the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd grew its holdings in Centene by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Vantage Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,478,000 after buying an additional 99,904 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Centene by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.
Featured Stories
Receive News & Ratings for Centene Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Centene and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.