Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates "Neutral" Rating for Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH)

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald has reaffirmed a "neutral" rating for Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) with a price target of $210, suggesting a potential upside of 20.15% from its current price.
• Other analysts, including Barclays and Truist Financial, have issued lower price targets, indicating a general trend of caution toward Molina Healthcare's stock performance.
• Molina Healthcare reported a quarterly earnings miss, with an EPS of $5.48 compared to the estimated $5.50, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 15.7% to $11.43 billion.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reissued by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $210.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's target price suggests a potential upside of 20.15% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Molina Healthcare from $270.00 to $186.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $180.00 price target (down from $335.00) on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Molina Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Molina Healthcare from $260.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Molina Healthcare from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $364.00 to $266.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $242.91.

Molina Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of MOH traded down $0.3940 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $174.7760. 67,487 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 989,832. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $208.71 and a 200-day moving average of $275.98. Molina Healthcare has a one year low of $151.95 and a one year high of $365.23. The firm has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH - Get Free Report) 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). Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 27.72%. The company had revenue of $11.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.86 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Molina Healthcare will post 24.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Molina Healthcare

In other news, COO James Woys bought 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $155.94 per share, with a total value of $1,559,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer directly owned 74,331 shares in the company, valued at $11,591,176.14. This represents a 15.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ronna Romney sold 700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.74, for a total value of $107,618.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,633,719.94. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Molina Healthcare

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Molina Healthcare in the second quarter worth approximately $235,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in Molina Healthcare in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 12.7% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 31,594 shares of the company's stock worth $9,415,000 after buying an additional 3,554 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 37.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,951 shares of the company's stock worth $581,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in Molina Healthcare in the second quarter worth approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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