Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $1.26 Billion Stock Position in Molina Healthcare, Inc $MOH

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Molina Healthcare by 46.4%, acquiring 1,216,903 shares, bringing their total ownership to 3,838,043 shares valued at approximately $1.26 billion.
• Other institutional investors are also increasing their positions in Molina Healthcare, with hedge funds owning 98.50% of the company's stock.
• Molina Healthcare's recent earnings report showed a revenue increase of 15.7% year-over-year, although its earnings per share of $5.48 slightly missed analysts' expectations.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH - Free Report) by 46.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,838,043 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,216,903 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 7.08% of Molina Healthcare worth $1,264,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MOH. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 126.3% in the first quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 86 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 930.0% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 103 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 60.7% during the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 90 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP lifted its position in Molina Healthcare by 170.6% in the first quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 92 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.50% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Molina Healthcare

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MOH. Mizuho lowered their price target on Molina Healthcare from $400.00 to $330.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Molina Healthcare from $270.00 to $186.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Molina Healthcare from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Molina Healthcare from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $364.00 to $266.00 in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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 report on Friday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $242.91.

Molina Healthcare Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MOH traded up $1.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $174.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,183,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,700,347. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $276.74. The firm has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.52. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a 1-year low of $151.95 and a 1-year high of $365.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 1.66.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.50 by ($0.02). Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 2.60%.The company had revenue of $11.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.86 EPS. Molina Healthcare's quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 24.4 earnings per share for the current year.

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.