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 $29.04, up 2.33% from the previous day, and has decreased 62.91% in one year. It has underperformed other stocks in the Healthcare Plans industry by 0.28 percentage points. Centene stock is currently +15.79% from its 52-week low of $25.08, and -63.97% from its 52-week high of $80.59.
There are currently 491.13M shares of CNC outstanding. The market value of CNC is $14.26B. In the past 24 hours, 8.35M 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
We believe that eToro is the best place to buy stocks. Here's why:
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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/E ratio of 7.05x, relative to Healthcare Plans industry P/E ratio of 14.39x
- CNC could be undervalued based on its P/B ratio of 0.52x, relative to Healthcare Plans industry P/B ratio of 1.94x
You can do more valuation analysis on CNC's stock here.
A look at CNC Cashflows and Balance Sheet
Passed Health Checks:
- There are more short-term assets than long-term liabilities on the CNC balance sheet.
- There are more short-term assets than short-term liabilities on the CNC balance sheet.
- CNC earnings of $3.45B is not enough to cover its interest payments.
Failed Health Checks:
- CNC's operating cash flow of $1.73B allows it to safely service it's debt of $17.58B.
- CNC profit margin has gone down from 1.8% to 1.2% in the past year.
- Total CNC debt is higher than 5 years ago, relative to shareholder equity.
- CNC has a relatively high debt to equity ratio of 2.15.
Is Centene stock a Buy, Hold, or Sell, according to Wall Street analysts?
Out of 13 Wall Street analysts who give recommendations on CNC, the consensus analyst rating on CNC is a Hold
Please keep in mind that analyst forecasts are not recommendations, nor are they financial advice.
Most Recent CNC Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades
Michael Wiederhorn, a bottom 8% analyst from Oppenheimer maintains CNC with a buy rating and lowers their CNC price target from $51.00 to $43.00, on Jul 28, 2025.
Michael Ha, a bottom 7% analyst from Baird maintains CNC with a hold rating and lowers their CNC price target from $68.00 to $28.00, on Jul 25, 2025.
Stephen Baxter, a bottom 8% analyst from Wells Fargo downgrades CNC to a hold rating and lowers their CNC price target from $72.00 to $30.00, on Jul 23, 2025.
Ryan Langston, a bottom 10% analyst from TD Cowen downgrades CNC to a hold rating and lowers their CNC price target from $73.00 to $33.00, on Jul 21, 2025.
Kevin Fischbeck, a bottom 14% analyst from Bank of America downgrades CNC to a sell rating and lowers their CNC price target from $52.00 to $30.00, on Jul 16, 2025.
Bank of America's Kevin Fischbeck downgraded their rating on Centene (NYSE: CNC) from Hold to Sell on 2025/07/16. The analyst also lowered their price target by 42.3% from $52 to $30.
Fischbeck said they downgraded the stock and reduced their estimates and price target on Centene to account for slowing Medicaid and Affordable Care Act exchange markets because of the One Big Beautiful Bill.
It is now more likely that enhanced exchange subsidies will expire at the end of 2025, clouding viability into Centene's turnaround, the analyst explained.
You can dive deeper into what analysts are saying on the Centene stock forecast page.
CNC Technical Indicators
How are CNC Revenues/Earnings doing?
Last year, CNC earnings were $2.05B. Over the past 5 year, CNC's earnings have grown by 7.35% per year. This was faster than the Healthcare Plans industry average of 1.07%.
Last year, CNC revenue was $178.19B. During the last 5 year, CNC's revenue has increased by 14.24% per year. This was faster than the Healthcare Plans industry average of 11.52%.
Find out more about CNC's earnings and revenue performance here.
Are CNC executives and large shareholders buying or selling the stock?
Over the last 12 months, insiders 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.
Learn 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.
What others are saying about CNC
One of the biggest 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
There are two primary order types:
- Market order: A market order is an order to buy or sell a security at the best available price.
Market orders are mostly the best for newer investors. - Limit order: A limit order enables you to buy or sell a stock at a specific price (or better).
If you want to make sure you're buying or selling at a given price, place a limit order.
Press the Open Trade button and your broker will place your order.
If you need additional help with investing in stocks on eToro, click the helpful video below:
Step 6: Monitor your CNC investment
Now that you own some shares in CNC, you'll want to keep up with your new shares.
Start 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 need a brokerage account, eToro is our recommended option.
Get Started with eToro TodayIf you want to keep tabs on your investment in Centene, add CNC to your watchlist by clicking the button below.
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