Centene (NYSE:CNC) Trading Up 3.5% – Should You Buy?

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)’s share price shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $60.66 and last traded at $61.00. 461,834 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 4,455,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Stock Down 0.5 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $29.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $621,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 122.3% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 91,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,514,000 after purchasing an additional 50,066 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 124,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,548,000 after purchasing an additional 2,690 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Finally, Alpha Wealth Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.