TD Cowen Boosts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $89.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective lifted by TD Cowen from $80.00 to $89.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $83.86.

Centene Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Centene stock opened at $78.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $41.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Centene has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.69.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Centene will post 6.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at about $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P increased its holdings in Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Centene by 60.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,460 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 535.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548,961 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.