Centene (NYSE:CNC) Given Overweight Rating at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $90.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on CNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $90.00 to $83.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $73.10 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $69.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.76. Centene has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $39.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.62. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Centene

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNC. GAM Holding AG lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 88,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 30.5% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 585,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,851,000 after purchasing an additional 136,970 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 168,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,153,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,117,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cypress Capital Group lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 192.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 13,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $902,000 after purchasing an additional 8,962 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.