Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,391 Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Molina Healthcare, Inc. by 17.2% in Q1, now owning 25,885 shares valued at approximately $8.5 million.
• Molina Healthcare reported $5.48 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates by 2 cents, but showed a revenue increase of 15.7% year-over-year.
• Recent analyst ratings have been mixed, with Cantor Fitzgerald maintaining a "neutral" rating and reducing the target price significantly from $312.00 to $210.00.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH - Free Report) by 17.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,885 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,391 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $8,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MOH. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,801,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $524,214,000 after buying an additional 427,276 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,144,000 after buying an additional 34,992 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,327,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $386,229,000 after buying an additional 294,180 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 688,245 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,307,000 after buying an additional 91,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 74,593.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 667,015 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,708,000 after buying an additional 666,122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MOH traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $155.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,007,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,223,858. The business's fifty day moving average is $251.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.64. 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 company has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 0.52. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a twelve month low of $153.01 and a twelve month high of $365.23.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.48 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.50 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $11.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.60% and a return on equity of 27.72%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 24.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MOH shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Molina Healthcare from $372.00 to $216.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered Molina Healthcare from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $364.00 to $266.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Molina Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $414.00 target price for the company. Mizuho reduced their target price on Molina Healthcare from $400.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down from $312.00) on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Friday, July 25th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $244.55.

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.