Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $159.63, but opened at $166.51. Molina Healthcare shares last traded at $166.97, with a volume of 260,153 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MOH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Molina Healthcare from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $364.00 to $266.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Molina Healthcare from $373.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 target price (down from $312.00) on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Molina Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Molina Healthcare from $216.00 to $198.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $242.91.

Molina Healthcare Trading Up 4.9%

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $223.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.79. The company has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.50 by ($0.02). Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 2.60%. The business had revenue of $11.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 24.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO James Woys purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $155.94 per share, with a total value of $1,559,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 74,331 shares in the company, valued at $11,591,176.14. This represents a 15.54% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ronna Romney sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.74, for a total transaction of $107,618.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,633,719.94. The trade was a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Molina Healthcare

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 5,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 79,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,104,000 after acquiring an additional 26,004 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl increased its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 3,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 10,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,954,000 after acquiring an additional 1,763 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.