Centene’s (CNC) Buy Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reiterated their buy rating on shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $82.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $80.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Centene from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 price objective on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 price objective (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on Centene from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.80.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $76.03 on Monday. Centene has a 12-month low of $31.63 and a 12-month high of $77.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.07.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.48. Centene had a net margin of 0.72% and a return on equity of 12.15%. The company had revenue of $50.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.7% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 12,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 68,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,270,000 after buying an additional 3,306 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 30,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,877,000 after buying an additional 7,513 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $641,000. Finally, Running Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Centene by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 163,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,130,000 after buying an additional 9,903 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.