Barclays Trims Centene (NYSE:CNC) Target Price to $97.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $98.00 to $97.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

CNC has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $85.75.

Centene Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $70.83 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.81. Centene has a twelve month low of $63.45 and a twelve month high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $37.80 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. Centene’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 41.4% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Riverview Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 154.6% in the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.