Barclays Boosts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $104.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $101.00 to $104.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $85.23.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded up $0.48 on Thursday, hitting $74.81. 4,706,732 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,598,060. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene has a 52 week low of $60.83 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.41.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.17. Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,325,441,000. Harris Associates L P increased its position in shares of Centene by 172.8% during the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Centene by 535.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,837,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,396,000 after acquiring an additional 1,548,961 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP boosted its stake in Centene by 375.1% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,943,982 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Centene by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,788,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,351,000 after purchasing an additional 704,684 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by 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.