Robert W. Baird Cuts Centene (NYSE:CNC) Price Target to $66.00

Centene (NYSE:CNC) had its target price decreased by Robert W. Baird from $83.00 to $66.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 2.77% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.17.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $64.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Centene has a 1-year low of $59.77 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The company has a market capitalization of $34.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.31.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.23. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $42.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.91 billion. Research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Centene

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Centene by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in Centene by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Centene by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Centene by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Centene by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

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.