Investors Buy Large Volume of Centene Call Options (NYSE:CNC)

Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors bought 17,741 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 92% compared to the average volume of 9,244 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Centene from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.92.

Centene Price Performance

CNC traded up $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $63.95. The stock had a trading volume of 2,139,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,869,331. Centene has a 1-year low of $59.77 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.49.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,046,000 after buying an additional 98,298 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in Centene by 435.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after acquiring an additional 16,304 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Centene by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 7,385 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 189.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 15,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in Centene by 7.3% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,307,000 after purchasing an additional 8,103 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.