Brokerages Set Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) PT at $80.92

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.31.

A number of analysts have commented on CNC shares. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $60.80 per share, with a total value of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 45,010 shares of company stock worth $2,660,276 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,398,000 after acquiring an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its holdings in Centene by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company's stock worth $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.7% during the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 17.1% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,478,000 after buying an additional 99,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.82. 5,908,445 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,354,732. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.26 and a 200-day moving average of $67.10. Centene has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $30.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.