Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target Raised to $93.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 31.49% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Centene from $72.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Barclays began coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.38.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $70.73 on Monday. Centene has a 12-month low of $60.83 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 14.26%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total transaction of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Centene news, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,455 shares in the company, valued at $886,731.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $900,840.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in Centene by 1,401.4% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 46,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,901,000 after buying an additional 43,247 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Centene by 104.7% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 43,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,684,000 after purchasing an additional 22,382 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the first quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in Centene by 10.0% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 37,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,149,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.