Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Brokerages

Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.05.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group set a $79.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Centene from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, September 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Silicon Valley Capital Partners bought a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth $25,000. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Bayban bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $62.01 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. Centene has a 52 week low of $31.63 and a 52 week high of $69.63. The firm has a market cap of $30.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.16) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a managed-care company that provides health insurance and related healthcare services, primarily through government-sponsored programs. Its offerings include Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug plans, coverage for individuals and families through the health insurance marketplace, and health services for military families and veterans.

The company markets several healthcare brands, including Ambetter, which provides marketplace plans, and Wellcare, which offers Medicare products.