Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 10,369 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 128% compared to the typical volume of 4,546 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in Centene by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 3.2% during the first quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the company's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Centene by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $54.98. 3,945,303 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,805,575. The firm has a market cap of $27.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene has a 1-year low of $54.01 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $60.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 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 the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $65.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday. Argus cut Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.31.

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.