Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 5,229 Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc $MOH

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers more than doubled its Molina Healthcare stake in the first quarter, purchasing 5,229 additional shares for a total of 9,332 shares valued at approximately $1.24 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 98.5%, with Goldman Sachs among the investors increasing its position. Analyst sentiment is mixed, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $202.44.
• Molina Healthcare exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.51 in EPS versus the $1.39 estimate and $10.87 billion in revenue, though revenue declined 4.8% year over year.

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH - Free Report) by 127.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,332 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,229 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MOH. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare during the first quarter worth $210,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 33.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the company's stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 713.3% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,651 shares of the company's stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 249,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,172,000 after purchasing an additional 40,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,541,000. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MOH shares. Zacks Research raised Molina Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and set a $129.00 price target on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $286.00 price target on Molina Healthcare in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $202.44.

Molina Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of Molina Healthcare stock opened at $206.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,144.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 29.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $210.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $177.84. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a one year low of $121.06 and a one year high of $244.89.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $10.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.83 billion. Molina Healthcare had a positive return on equity of 3.73% and a negative net margin of 0.02%.Molina Healthcare's quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

About Molina Healthcare

Molina Healthcare, Inc is a managed care company specializing in government-sponsored health insurance programs. The company offers Medicaid managed care plans, Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, and individual Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act. Through an integrated care model, Molina emphasizes preventive and primary care services, care coordination, and disease management to improve health outcomes for its members.

The company traces its roots to the early 1980s, when Dr.

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