Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.40, but opened at $36.79. Centene shares last traded at $35.7860, with a volume of 1,427,055 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $44.00 price objective on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Centene from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Centene from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.81.

Centene Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $17.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $49.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 248.4% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 18,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after buying an additional 13,107 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 157,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,482,000 after buying an additional 27,639 shares in the last quarter. Bayban bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $242,000. Finally, Cogent Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $197,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Centene

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.