How to Buy Centene Stock
Centene Corp
Centene is a healthcare plan company located in Missouri, United States, which is part of the Healthcare sector, and is traded under the ticker CNC on the NYSE exchange.
Centene stock last closed at $35.02, down 6.21% from the previous day, and has decreased 43.31% in one year. It has underperformed other stocks in the Healthcare Plans industry by 0.17 percentage points. Centene stock is currently +39.63% from its 52-week low of $25.08, and -47.58% from its 52-week high of $66.81.
There are currently 491.52M shares of CNC outstanding. The market value of CNC is $17.21B. In the past 24 hours, 12.21M CNC shares were traded.
How to Buy Centene Stock
Wondering how to invest in Centene stock? Here's how.
- Figure out where to buy Centene stock: You need to pick a stock brokerage, but don't worry - we've tried dozens of stock brokerages and apps to help you decide where to buy Centene stock.
- Create a brokerage account: Sign up for 0% commission trading with the highest-rated brokerage we've selected.
- Fund your brokerage account: Choose your method of payment and add your info.
- Evaluate Centene stock: The Centene ticker symbol is CNC. Is Centene stock a good investment? Should you buy shares of CNC? How do CNC's underlying business fundamentals look? Do top analysts think Centene is a good buy? Why has CNC's stock price moved recently? (Hint: Our stock market research website can help you decide if CNC is a good stock to buy).
- Place your CNC purchase: Decide if you will purchase CNC shares at the current market price or use a limit order to buy CNC shares at a particular price.
- Monitor your CNC investment: Create a watchlist to monitor your investment in Centene stock.
Step 1: Figure out where to buy Centene stock
You will need an online brokerage account to access the NYSE market and buy CNC stock.
Our preferred brokerage: eToro
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- Buy other assets: Such as ETFs and cryptocurrencies.
Get $10 towards your purchase of shares by creating an account with eToro today. This offer is only for US users.
Open eToro AccountStep 2: Create a brokerage account
Now that you've selected the right brokerage, you'll need to fill out some personal information so you can buy CNC stock today.
How to Start a New Brokerage Account on eToro
- Click here to get started.eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
- Provide your personal details to create your new trading account.
- Submit your data by hitting the "Create Account" button. Get started with eToro today
Step 3: Fund your brokerage account
Now that you have created your account on the best stock app, you need to deposit funds:
Watch the tutorial below to see the process of depositing funds into your investment account.
Step 4: Evaluate Centene stock
After you have chosen the best place to buy Centene stock, it's very important to evaluate their stock prior to investing, so you actually understand the risk and opportunity.
Centene shares at a glance
CNC Overview
WallStreetZen was created to help average investors perform better fundamental analysis in less time.
You can view all of the due diligence checks on CNC's stock page.
Is CNC stock undervalued or overvalued?
Analysts use many financial metrics, analyses, models, and charts to gauge CNC's intrinsic value.
Using relative valuations metrics:
- CNC could be undervalued based on its P/B ratio of 0.82x, relative to Healthcare Plans industry P/B ratio of 2.06x
You can access more valuation research on CNC's stock here.
CNC Financial Overview
Passed Health Checks:
- There are more short-term assets than short-term liabilities on the CNC balance sheet.
- There are more short-term assets than long-term liabilities on the CNC balance sheet.
- CNC's operating cash flow of $4.06B allows it to safely service it's debt of $17.58B.
Failed Health Checks:
- CNC profit margin has gone down from 1.9% to -2.8% in the past year.
- CNC earnings of -$4.15B is not enough to cover its interest payments.
- Total CNC debt is higher than 5 years ago, relative to shareholder equity.
- CNC has a relatively high debt to equity ratio of 2.91.
Is Centene stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell, according to analysts?
Out of 15 Equities analysts who monitor CNC, the consensus analyst rating on Centene is a Hold
Please note that analyst ratings are not stock recommendations, nor are they financial advice.
Most Recent CNC Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades
Ann Hynes, a top 8% analyst from Mizuho maintains CNC with a hold rating and raises their CNC price target from $28.00 to $40.00, on Oct 9, 2025.
Stephen Baxter, a bottom 7% analyst from Wells Fargo maintains CNC with a hold rating and raises their CNC price target from $30.00 to $41.00, on Oct 7, 2025.
Ryan MacDonald, a top 40% analyst from Truist Securities maintains CNC with a strong buy rating and raises their CNC price target from $35.00 to $39.00, on Sep 12, 2025.
Andrew Mok, a top 22% analyst from Barclays maintains CNC with a hold rating and raises their CNC price target from $33.00 to $35.00, on Sep 12, 2025.
Lance Wilkes, a bottom 13% analyst from Bernstein maintains CNC with a buy rating and lowers their CNC price target from $40.00 to $36.00, on Sep 5, 2025.
You can dive deeper into what analysts are saying on the Centene stock forecast page.
CNC Momentum
How are CNC Revenues/Earnings doing?
Last year, CNC revenue was $185.86B. In the past 5 year, CNC's revenue has grown by 12.82% per year. This was faster than the Healthcare Plans industry average of 11.62%.
Learn more about CNC's earnings and revenue performance here.
Are CNC executives and large shareholders buying or selling the stock?
Over the last year, executives and large shareholders at CNC have sold more shares than they have bought.
Sarah London, Chief Executive Officer of CNC, was the latest CNC insider to buy. They bought $490,365.00 worth of CNC stock on Aug 8, 2025.
Dig into more about who owns CNC stock here.
Can I rely on CNC as an income stream?
No, Centene doesn't provide an income stream by paying out dividends.
Get analysis from other investors
One of the reasons eToro is our top-rated brokerage is because of its social trading community.
Click below to learn what other traders have to say.
Step 5: Place your CNC purchase
You have two main order types:
- Market order: A market order is an order to buy or sell a stock at the best price on the market.
Market orders are mostly the easiest way to buy. - Limit order: A limit order allows you to buy or sell a security at a specific price (or better).
If you want to ensure you're buying or selling at a particular dollar amount limit, place a limit order.
Hit the Open Trade button and eToro will execute the order.
If you want more assistance investing in stocks on eToro, click the how to video below:
Step 6: Monitor your CNC investment
Now that you own some CNC stock, you'll want to keep up with your stock purchase.
Add CNC to a watchlist to track your CNC stock.
CNC Feed
How to Buy Stock in Centene
To summarize, here are the 6 steps for buying Centene stock:
- Figure out where to buy Centene stock
- Create a brokerage account
- Fund your brokerage account
- Evaluate Centene stock
- Place your CNC purchase
- Monitor your CNC investment
If you require a online brokerage, eToro is our favorite venue.
Get Started with eToro TodayIf you want to track your new investment in Centene, get started below.
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