Brokerages Set Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) PT at $85.58

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.58.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CNC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Centene Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:CNC opened at $72.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.27. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $63.45 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 148,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,009,000 after purchasing an additional 35,352 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $7,942,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Centene by 75.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 898,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,710,000 after acquiring an additional 386,379 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 504,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,430,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 7,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.