Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.92.

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 4,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,305,284.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vantage Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Centene by 17.1% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 683,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,478,000 after purchasing an additional 99,904 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 35.8% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 7,385 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 189.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after acquiring an additional 15,819 shares during the period. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.3% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,307,000 after acquiring an additional 8,103 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.4% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,435,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,063,000 after acquiring an additional 191,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $58.83 on Tuesday. Centene has a fifty-two week low of $57.20 and a fifty-two week high of $81.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $67.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.88. The company has a market cap of $29.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.21, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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.