Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,050,000 shares, a drop of 38.1% from the February 13th total of 9,780,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco bought 17,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in Centene by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Centene by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Centene by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Up 1.9 %

CNC stock traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $59.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,897,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,461,996. The company has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.73. 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 has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.92.

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.