Centene Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 9,358 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 126% compared to the average daily volume of 4,133 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter valued at $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its position in Centene by 41.4% during the second 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. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new stake in Centene during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Riverview Trust Co boosted its position in Centene by 154.6% during the second quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Centene from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.77.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $73.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.91. Centene has a 52-week low of $61.31 and a 52-week high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.