Cantor Fitzgerald Has Lowered Expectations for Centene (NYSE:CNC) Stock Price

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) had its price target cut by Cantor Fitzgerald from $90.00 to $65.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CNC. Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.87.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock traded down $0.51 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 33,741,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,446,665. Centene has a one year low of $33.30 and a one year high of $80.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $56.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 14.56%. Centene's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.