Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Short Interest Update

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) saw a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,050,000 shares, a drop of 38.1% from the February 13th total of 9,780,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 5,240,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Thomas Greco purchased 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $1,015,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,153,712.75. This trade represents a 736.25 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,398,000 after purchasing an additional 10,515 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in Centene by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd grew its position in shares of Centene by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Trading Up 1.9 %

CNC traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $59.28. The stock had a trading volume of 2,897,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,461,996. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.