Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set an "overweight" rating and a $364.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley's price target indicates a potential upside of 24.16% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Baird R W cut Molina Healthcare from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Molina Healthcare from $340.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Mizuho increased their price target on Molina Healthcare from $376.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $414.00 price target for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Molina Healthcare has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $364.21.

Molina Healthcare Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of MOH stock traded down $1.46 on Monday, reaching $293.16. 542,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 685,332. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $317.68 and a 200-day moving average of $307.22. Molina Healthcare has a one year low of $262.32 and a one year high of $365.23. The company has a market cap of $15.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.57.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $6.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.96 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $11.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.86 billion. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 28.13% and a net margin of 2.90%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.73 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Molina Healthcare will post 24.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard M. Schapiro sold 669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $214,414.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,244 shares in the company, valued at $3,603,702. The trade was a 5.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Joseph M. Zubretsky sold 87,500 shares of Molina Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.06, for a total transaction of $28,005,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,484,262.90. The trade was a 25.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Molina Healthcare

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 46.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,838,043 shares of the company's stock worth $1,264,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,903 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,632,232 shares of the company's stock worth $766,111,000 after buying an additional 181,073 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Molina Healthcare by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,801,113 shares of the company's stock worth $524,214,000 after purchasing an additional 427,276 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 8.6% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,487,896 shares of the company's stock worth $490,099,000 after purchasing an additional 117,796 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Molina Healthcare by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,144,000 after acquiring an additional 34,992 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.50% 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.