Centene (NYSE:CNC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group raised shares of 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 research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.92.

Centene Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $63.89 on Monday. Centene has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $60.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $32.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.45.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, Director Thomas Greco acquired 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, for a total transaction of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,153,712.75. This represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director H James Dallas bought 1,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.01 per share, with a total value of $99,903.93. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,903.93. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 45,010 shares of company stock valued at $2,660,276. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $167,000. Bonfire Financial bought a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $490,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $3,708,000. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after buying an additional 7,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 279,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,949,000 after acquiring an additional 41,327 shares during the period. 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.