Short Interest in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Rises By 7.6%

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 16,310,000 shares, an increase of 7.6% from the November 15th total of 15,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, CFO Andrew Lynn Asher acquired 17,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $58.14 per share, for a total transaction of $1,000,008.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 486,847 shares in the company, valued at $28,305,284.58. The trade was a 3.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah London bought 4,117 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $60.80 per share, for a total transaction of $250,313.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 667,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,567,523.20. This trade represents a 0.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Centene

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in Centene by 41.4% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Centene by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. boosted its holdings in Centene by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 64,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,291,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Centene by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Centene from $83.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.92.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $1.36 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.81. 7,232,047 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,120,378. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.51. The stock has a market cap of $29.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.46. Centene has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

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.