Centene (NYSE:CNC) Trading Up 4% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) traded up 4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $63.73 and last traded at $63.15. 1,987,178 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 4,583,897 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

Centene Trading Down 3.4 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is 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.