Centene (NYSE:CNC) Given New $72.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price increased by research analysts at Bank of America from $60.00 to $72.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 23.54% from the stock’s current price.

CNC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Argus raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.59.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $58.28 on Thursday. Centene has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $61.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $42.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.35. The firm has a market cap of $28.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.44, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.06.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The firm had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.90 EPS. Centene’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $332,044,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. increased its holdings in Centene by 184.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares in the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $186,662,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Centene by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,171,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472,341 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.