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

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 12,127 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 72% compared to the average daily volume of 7,054 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Zacks Research downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth about $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 423.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10,757,914 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 12.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,517,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,173,000 after buying an additional 608,249 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Centene by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,518,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,818,000 after acquiring an additional 802,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $285,713,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Down 3.0%

NYSE CNC traded down $2.13 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $68.03. 1,848,124 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,574,341. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $33.61 billion, a PE ratio of -6.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.13. Centene has a 52 week low of $31.63 and a 52 week high of $72.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The company had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. Centene’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.