Centene (NYSE:CNC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

by · The Cerbat Gem

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC – Get Free Report) shares saw strong trading volume on Monday . 12,240,402 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 232% from the previous session’s volume of 3,689,652 shares.The stock last traded at $61.21 and had previously closed at $62.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.58.

View Our Latest Analysis on CNC

Centene Stock Down 1.6 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.69. The company has a market capitalization of $32.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNC. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 20.7% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 7,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.9% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Centene by 39.8% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Centene

(Get Free Report)

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.

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