TD Cowen Trims Centene (NYSE:CNC) Target Price to $80.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price trimmed by TD Cowen from $91.00 to $80.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Stephens restated an equal weight rating and set a $83.00 target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $83.93.

Centene Trading Up 8.5 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $73.10 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.76. Centene has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The firm has a market cap of $39.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

About Centene

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.