Truist Financial Issues Positive Forecast for Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Truist Financial from $58.00 to $71.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Truist Financial’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.63% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $41.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.94.

Centene Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE CNC opened at $60.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.09. Centene has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $60.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.47.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Centene will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Centene by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,344,676,000 after buying an additional 190,334 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Centene by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after purchasing an additional 697,277 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,456,000 after acquiring an additional 603,585 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.