Analysts Set Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) PT at $78.31

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $77.71.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, June 2nd.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $55.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.85, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.45. 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 12-month low of $54.01 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.99.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Centene by 3.2% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.