Barclays Increases Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $104.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Barclays from $101.00 to $104.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 42.23% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Monday. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Centene from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.23.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $73.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,051,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,127,644. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.41. Centene has a 1-year low of $60.83 and a 1-year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $40.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.11 EPS. Analysts predict that Centene will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.