Barclays Lowers Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $91.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $97.00 to $91.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 47.58% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.67.

Centene Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $61.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. Centene has a 52 week low of $59.77 and a 52 week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Centene will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 1.0% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Centene by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 5.0% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 2.1% in the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

About Centene

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.