Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.08.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. 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. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Centene news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 1,401.4% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,901,000 after purchasing an additional 43,247 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.2% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,734 shares of the company's stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 104.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 22,382 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter valued at about $203,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 37,404 shares of the company's stock worth $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $72.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,969,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,046,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $77.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.44. The company has a market cap of $39.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The company had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.