Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) Stock Price

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) had its price target dropped by Robert W. Baird from $373.00 to $179.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.50% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays cut their price target on Molina Healthcare from $351.00 to $347.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Mizuho cut their price target on Molina Healthcare from $400.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Guggenheim started coverage on Molina Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Molina Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $414.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded Molina Healthcare from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $364.00 to $266.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Molina Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.42.

Molina Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE MOH opened at $164.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $267.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.17. Molina Healthcare has a 1 year low of $156.36 and a 1 year high of $365.23. The company has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.55.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.50 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $11.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 2.60%. Molina Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Molina Healthcare will post 24.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Molina Healthcare

In related news, Director Richard M. Schapiro sold 669 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $214,414.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,603,702. This trade represents a 5.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph M. Zubretsky sold 87,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.06, for a total transaction of $28,005,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 257,715 shares in the company, valued at $82,484,262.90. This represents a 25.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 46.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,838,043 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,264,214,000 after buying an additional 1,216,903 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,632,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $766,111,000 after buying an additional 181,073 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,801,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,214,000 after buying an additional 427,276 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,487,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,099,000 after buying an additional 117,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,144,000 after buying an additional 34,992 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.