Robert W. Baird Trims Centene (NYSE:CNC) Target Price to $66.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Robert W. Baird from $83.00 to $66.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $84.17.

Centene Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of Centene stock traded up $2.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $64.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,136,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,969. The company has a market cap of $34.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.37. Centene has a 1-year low of $59.77 and a 1-year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth approximately $914,080,000. Capital International Investors grew its position in Centene by 60.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $409,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,460 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 22.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,461,517 shares of the company's stock worth $295,799,000 after purchasing an additional 832,318 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 14.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company's stock worth $339,042,000 after purchasing an additional 636,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 42.3% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,400,276 shares of the company's stock worth $92,838,000 after purchasing an additional 416,003 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.