Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,200,000 shares, a decline of 14.6% from the March 15th total of 9,600,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, President Kenneth J. Fasola sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $900,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 235,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,668,850.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lori Jean Robinson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.41, for a total value of $774,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $886,731.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in Centene by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,215,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,239,000 after acquiring an additional 231,931 shares during the last quarter. QV Investors Inc. grew its position in Centene by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 305,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,655,000 after acquiring an additional 33,350 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,349,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Centene by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 187,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,941,000 after acquiring an additional 68,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Centene by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 186,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,817,000 after acquiring an additional 14,070 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Barclays started coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Centene from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Centene from $94.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down previously from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.08.

Centene Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of CNC opened at $70.73 on Friday. Centene has a 1 year low of $60.83 and a 1 year high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.47. The stock has a market cap of $37.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.41, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. The business had revenue of $39.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centene will post 6.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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.