Jefferies Financial Group Lowers Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $61.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $64.00 to $61.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on CNC. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays lowered their price target on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.77.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded up $0.10 on Tuesday, hitting $59.51. 796,993 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,750,219. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.62. Centene has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $29.61 billion, a PE ratio of 9.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Centene by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,053,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578,917 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Centene by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock worth $320,760,000 after purchasing an additional 443,121 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently 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.