Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $70.05.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 target price on Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 price target on Centene in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 3.1% during the first quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Summitry LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 1.1% during the first quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 23,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Centene by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 52,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 8,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $66.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.28. The stock has a market cap of $33.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.10. Centene has a 1-year low of $28.24 and a 1-year high of $69.36.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.16) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Centene will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.