Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $64.82, but opened at $60.25. Centene shares last traded at $61.62, with a volume of 1,361,774 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.31.

Centene Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $61.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.00.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher purchased 17,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Centene by 1,190.0% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 387 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Centene by 73.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

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.