Empowered Funds LLC Cuts Holdings in Molina Healthcare, Inc $MOH

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Molina Healthcare by 44.2%, bringing its ownership down to 37,298 shares valued at approximately $12.3 million.
• Several large investors increased their positions in Molina Healthcare, including Ethic Inc., which boosted its holdings by 68.2%, and Focus Partners Wealth, which increased its stake by 224.7%.
• Analysts have lowered Molina Healthcare's price targets, with Robert W. Baird cutting the target from $373.00 to $179.00 and Morgan Stanley from $364.00 to $266.00, indicating tenuous market sentiment.

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH - Free Report) by 44.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,298 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,602 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.07% of Molina Healthcare worth $12,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Molina Healthcare during the first quarter worth about $2,759,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 100.3% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 659 shares of the company's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,070,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 82.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,150,000 after acquiring an additional 7,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at about $255,000. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MOH shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on Molina Healthcare from $400.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Molina Healthcare from $272.00 to $184.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Molina Healthcare from $373.00 to $179.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on Molina Healthcare from $186.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Molina Healthcare currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $225.18.

Molina Healthcare Stock Down 3.0%

MOH traded down $5.35 during trading on Monday, hitting $175.53. 338,347 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,025,613. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $179.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $265.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a 12-month low of $151.95 and a 12-month high of $365.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 0.54.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $11.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.86 earnings per share. Molina Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 24.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Molina Healthcare news, Director Ronna Romney sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owned 17,131 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,633,719.94. This represents a 3.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO James Woys purchased 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 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% 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.