Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) Trading Down 3.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) were down 3.2% on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $437.00 to $430.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Molina Healthcare traded as low as $336.87 and last traded at $341.18. Approximately 84,491 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 397,431 shares. The stock had previously closed at $352.30.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MOH. StockNews.com cut shares of Molina Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $390.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Molina Healthcare from $440.00 to $410.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lowered Molina Healthcare from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $439.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $406.00 price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $396.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard M. Schapiro sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $401.05, for a total value of $401,050.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,494,567.35. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Mark Lowell Keim sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $386.56, for a total transaction of $5,798,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 36,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,121,423.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard M. Schapiro sold 1,000 shares of Molina Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $401.05, for a total transaction of $401,050.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,494,567.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 16,711 shares of company stock worth $6,472,517. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Molina Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 1.5% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 258,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,754 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 10.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,190,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,242,000 after buying an additional 112,243 shares during the last quarter. Overbrook Management Corp raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 36,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,335,000 after buying an additional 391 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 4,019.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 103,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,282,000 after buying an additional 100,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 42,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,483,000 after buying an additional 7,346 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Molina Healthcare Stock Down 2.9 %

The company has a market cap of $20.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $391.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $371.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.54.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $5.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.46 by $0.27. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 2.99%. The firm had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.81 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Molina Healthcare, Inc. will post 23.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Molina Healthcare

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.