TD Cowen Trims Centene (NYSE:CNC) Target Price to $80.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price decreased by TD Cowen from $91.00 to $80.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $81.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Centene Trading Up 8.5 %

CNC stock opened at $73.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.73. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $60.83 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $39.01 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,313,710.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambiar Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 0.9% during the second quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 737,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,879,000 after buying an additional 6,588 shares during the last quarter. GAM Holding AG lifted its position in shares of Centene by 1.4% during the second quarter. GAM Holding AG now owns 88,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,880,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 30.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 585,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,851,000 after acquiring an additional 136,970 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.6% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 168,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,117,000 after acquiring an additional 25,595 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.