Centene (NYSE:CNC) Given New $71.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) had its price target upped by Robert W. Baird from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Stephens lowered their price objective on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.31.

Centene Trading Up 0.5 %

CNC traded up $0.32 on Tuesday, reaching $58.95. 3,319,375 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,431,602. The company's 50 day moving average is $61.25 and its 200-day moving average is $67.00. 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 has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.23, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.90% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Centene will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 486,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,153,712.75. The trade was a 736.25 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 40,893 shares of company stock worth $2,409,962. Insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 1,190.0% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 387 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.