Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) Short Interest Down 16.9% in April

Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 956,100 shares, a drop of 16.9% from the March 31st total of 1,150,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 400,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MOH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Molina Healthcare from $437.00 to $430.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Molina Healthcare from $440.00 to $410.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Molina Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Molina Healthcare from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $439.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $400.70.

Molina Healthcare Price Performance

NYSE:MOH traded up $5.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $347.94. 114,980 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 400,527. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $390.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $372.35. The company has a market cap of $20.39 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.47. Molina Healthcare has a 12-month low of $266.35 and a 12-month high of $423.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $5.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.46 by $0.27. Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.99% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The business had revenue of $9.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.81 earnings per share. Molina Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Molina Healthcare will post 23.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Molina Healthcare

In related news, Director Richard M. Schapiro sold 711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.06, for a total transaction of $273,066.66. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,688,220.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Richard M. Schapiro sold 711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.06, for a total transaction of $273,066.66. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,207 shares in the company, valued at $4,688,220.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Lowell Keim sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.56, for a total transaction of $5,798,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 36,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,121,423.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 16,711 shares of company stock valued at $6,472,517. Corporate insiders own 1.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Molina Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MOH. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Molina Healthcare by 33.5% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 47.6% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 10,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,341,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 17,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,862,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Molina Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,257,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Molina Healthcare during the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.