Centene (NYSE:CNC) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene (NYSE:CNC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $69.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $83.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a neutral rating and a $83.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Baird R W upgraded Centene to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $83.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $83.93.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $73.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Centene has a 1-year low of $60.83 and a 1-year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Centene will post 6.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total transaction of $620,960.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 300,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.62, for a total value of $620,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 300,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,313,710.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher J. Coughlin sold 878 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.75, for a total transaction of $67,386.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,957,432. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Centene in the 1st quarter worth $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P increased its position in shares of Centene by 172.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,033,000 after purchasing an additional 32,427 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,117,000 after purchasing an additional 25,595 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.