Ethic Inc. Cuts Holdings in Molina Healthcare, Inc $MOH

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. reduced its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 35.2%, selling 1,829 shares and bringing its total shares owned to 3,364, valued at approximately $1.1 million.
• Molina Healthcare's earnings for the latest quarter were reported at $5.48 per share, missing analysts' expectations by a slight margin, while revenue exceeded estimates at $11.43 billion.
• Various institutional investors have changed their stakes in Molina Healthcare, with notable increases from firms like Brandywine Global Investment Management and Aberdeen Group, indicating active interest in the company's stock.

Ethic Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH - Free Report) by 35.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,364 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,829 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $1,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MOH. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 74,593.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 667,015 shares of the company's stock worth $219,708,000 after buying an additional 666,122 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Molina Healthcare by 1,641.3% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 409,807 shares of the company's stock worth $119,274,000 after purchasing an additional 386,273 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in Molina Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,099,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Molina Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at about $46,441,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 177,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,560,000 after purchasing an additional 102,840 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $216.00 to $198.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $260.00 to $180.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $400.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (down previously from $335.00) on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $242.91.

Molina Healthcare Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of MOH traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $174.30. 1,183,908 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,885,765. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a fifty-two week low of $151.95 and a fifty-two week high of $365.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $211.01 and a 200-day moving average of $276.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.52.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $11.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 2.60%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 24.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Molina Healthcare

In related news, Director Ronna Romney sold 700 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 17,131 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,633,719.94. This trade represents a 3.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO James Woys acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $155.94 per share, for a total transaction of $1,559,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 74,331 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,591,176.14. This trade represents a 15.54% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Molina Healthcare Company Profile

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.