Short sellers retreat while options traders turn bullish. Analysts remain divided with a $43.47 average target just 3.9% above Friday's close.
Short interest stands at 13.15 million shares as of April 23, representing 2.67% of free float. Shorts have reduced exposure 3.9% over the past week and 2.2% over the past month. Days to cover sits at 2.89. Cost to borrow ticked up 47% week-over-week to 0.38%, though the absolute level remains modest. Utilization is extremely low at 0.04%, far below the 52-week high of 1.99%. Ample shares remain available to short, indicating minimal squeeze pressure.
Put-call ratio dropped to 0.29 on April 24, signaling bullish sentiment. The 20-day mean is 0.33, putting current PCR in the bottom 10% of the 52-week range (0.28–1.80). The z-score of -1.12 confirms the bullish skew is statistically meaningful. Call buyers dominate ahead of the print.
Wall Street consensus is unavailable, but the average target is $43.47. Recent actions show divergence. Jefferies raised its target to $39 on April 20 while maintaining Hold. JP Morgan cut to $41 from $45 in March. Barclays upgraded to Overweight with a $54 target in January, the most bullish move. Wells Fargo raised to $44 in February. Mizuho and Morgan Stanley made offsetting moves in March. The 17 analysts tracked show no clear consensus direction. Benzinga's bull case highlights improved Medicaid HBR at 93.4% and Medicare membership hitting 1.01 million. The bear case warns of commercial HBR deterioration to 89.9% and marketplace exposure dropping from 55% to 42% in 2026.
P/E ratio sits at 12.39, up 2.26 points over 30 days as the stock rallied 27%. EV/EBITDA is 10.09, up modestly. Price-to-book rose to 0.94, still below book value. Factor scores show strength in EPS surprise (91st percentile) and EPS momentum (76th percentile 30-day, 74th 90-day). Value and quality ML ranks are unavailable. Analyst recommendation differential ranks poorly at the 6th percentile.
Insiders sold $2.46 million net over the past 90 days, including CEO Sarah London's $1.24 million sale in March at $34.45. CFO Drew Asher sold $525,000 the same day. All trades carried low significance scores. Top holders Vanguard (11.6% stake) and State Street (4.4%) both added shares in Q1. T. Rowe Price increased its position by 2.47 million shares. Goldman Sachs added 1.16 million shares.
CNC reported last on February 6. The stock has surged 27% over the past month and 9.6% over the past week into the April 28 print. Prior earnings dates show clustering in early February.
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