Centene (NYSE:CNC) Downgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a neutral rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an overweight rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $84.93.

Centene Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $66.30 on Friday. Centene has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $35.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.59 and its 200-day moving average is $74.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 1.1% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 134,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 16.1% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 15,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 48.8% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 187,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,946,000 after purchasing an additional 61,666 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association increased its stake in shares of Centene by 9.3% in the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 14,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 70.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 78,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,384,000 after purchasing an additional 32,252 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by 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.