Investors Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Centene (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 11,689 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 57% compared to the typical volume of 7,432 put options.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC traded down $0.68 on Tuesday, reaching $62.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,113,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,681,285. Centene has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.92 billion, a PE ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.53 and a 200 day moving average of $61.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Centene by 75.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $64.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.69.

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.