Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target Raised to $93.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 27.89% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.38.

Centene Trading Up 2.8 %

NYSE CNC traded up $1.99 on Monday, hitting $72.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,504,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,054,266. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Centene has a 1-year low of $60.83 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The company's 50-day moving average is $76.80 and its 200 day moving average is $74.50. The firm has a market cap of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Centene will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the second quarter valued at $26,000. 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.