Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives $81.31 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $80.92.

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Stephens lowered their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $59.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.35. Centene has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $30.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director H James Dallas acquired 1,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,903.93. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 28,010 shares of company stock worth $1,644,526. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Centene by 17.1% in the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,478,000 after acquiring an additional 99,904 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after purchasing an additional 111,654 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,435,482 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,063,000 after buying an additional 191,768 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 31.1% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 118,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,944,000 after buying an additional 28,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its position in Centene by 273.5% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 44,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,334,000 after acquiring an additional 32,428 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.