Centene (NYSE:CNC) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $46.28, but opened at $44.00. Centene shares last traded at $40.6860, with a volume of 4,293,605 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Centene from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.81.

Centene Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.34 and a 200-day moving average of $35.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.50 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth approximately $1,435,997,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,356,152 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its holdings in Centene by 184.0% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. 8 Knots Management LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the third quarter worth approximately $186,662,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Centene by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,716,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,989,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.