Morgan Stanley Begins Coverage on Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH)

Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $364.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Baird R W cut Molina Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim began coverage on Molina Healthcare in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $362.00 to $351.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Molina Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $376.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $364.21.

Molina Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:MOH opened at $293.98 on Monday. Molina Healthcare has a 52-week low of $262.32 and a 52-week high of $365.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $317.68 and a 200 day moving average of $307.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.57.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $6.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $11.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.86 billion. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 28.13% and a net margin of 2.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.73 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Molina Healthcare will post 24.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Molina Healthcare

In other news, Director Richard M. Schapiro sold 669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $214,414.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,603,702. The trade was a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joseph M. Zubretsky sold 87,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.06, for a total value of $28,005,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 257,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,484,262.90. This represents a 25.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOH. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,814,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in Molina Healthcare by 60.7% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 90 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 0.3% in the first quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 10,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,500,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. boosted its position in Molina Healthcare by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. now owns 10,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,317,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Molina Healthcare by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 43 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.