Centene (NYSE:CNC) Given New $93.00 Price Target at Barclays

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $91.00 to $93.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.31.

Centene Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of CNC stock opened at $59.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $62.02 and a 200-day moving average of $68.58. Centene has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $81.42. The stock has a market cap of $30.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, CEO Sarah London purchased 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.14 per share, with a total value of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNC. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 41.4% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Centene by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Centene by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Meridian Management Co. grew its stake in Centene by 0.3% in the second quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 64,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,291,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.4% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.