Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $367.17.

MOH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Molina Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $354.00 to $353.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Molina Healthcare from $360.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $406.00 price target on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Thursday, October 24th.

Molina Healthcare Stock Up 0.8 %

MOH opened at $333.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.54. Molina Healthcare has a 1 year low of $272.69 and a 1 year high of $423.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $332.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $327.38.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $6.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.92 billion. Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Molina Healthcare will post 23.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Molina Healthcare

In other news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.52, for a total value of $136,182.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,583.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Molina Healthcare

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Molina Healthcare by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 94,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,676,000 after purchasing an additional 5,751 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 1.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 146,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 57.4% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 3,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $1,001,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Molina Healthcare Company Profile

Molina Healthcare, Inc provides managed healthcare services to low-income families and individuals under the Medicaid and Medicare programs and through the state insurance marketplaces. It operates in four segments: Medicaid, Medicare, Marketplace, and Other. The company served in across 19 states. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.