TD Cowen Issues Positive Forecast for Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at TD Cowen from $34.00 to $38.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Cowen’s price target points to a potential downside of 3.91% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CNC. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $38.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

Centene Stock Down 0.2%

CNC stock opened at $39.55 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of -2.91, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.48. Centene has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $66.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,396,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,169,768,000 after acquiring an additional 869,706 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth about $1,435,997,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Centene by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,186,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,586,000 after acquiring an additional 514,600 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,885,000 after buying an additional 6,356,152 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Centene by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after acquiring an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.