Investors Purchase Large Volume of Centene Put Options (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 6,219 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 64% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,781 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target (down from $92.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 16.9% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 45.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 94,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,519,000 after purchasing an additional 29,676 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Centene by 6.2% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 243,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,744,000 after buying an additional 14,209 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in Centene by 20.7% in the third quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 13,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 43.2% during the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 13,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 3,995 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 2.2 %

CNC stock traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.00. 6,382,729 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,098,969. Centene has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $76.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The company reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $40.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.43 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 1.75%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.11 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Centene will post 6.75 EPS for the current 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.