Centene (NYSE:CNC) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $72.77 and last traded at $71.6250, with a volume of 1,303,047 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Argus raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.80.

Centene Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.47. The stock has a market cap of $35.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.07.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $50.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.12 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 0.72%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 5.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Centene during the second quarter valued at $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Centene by 423.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,805,000 after purchasing an additional 10,757,914 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 12.4% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,517,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,173,000 after buying an additional 608,249 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Centene by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,518,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,818,000 after purchasing an additional 802,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at $285,713,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Company Profile

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.