Solas Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Molina Healthcare, Inc $MOH

Solas Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 40,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,198,000. Molina Healthcare accounts for approximately 4.9% of Solas Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MOH. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Molina Healthcare in the first quarter valued at approximately $210,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 33.4% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 713.3% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 249,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,172,000 after acquiring an additional 40,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at $1,541,000. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Molina Healthcare Price Performance

MOH opened at $198.65 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -1,103.57, a P/E/G ratio of 28.70 and a beta of 0.75. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a 12 month low of $121.06 and a 12 month high of $244.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.68.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.12. Molina Healthcare had a positive return on equity of 3.73% and a negative net margin of 0.02%.The firm had revenue of $10.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MOH shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $286.00 price target on Molina Healthcare in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Mizuho set a $215.00 price objective on Molina Healthcare in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Molina Healthcare from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $230.00 target price on Molina Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Molina Healthcare from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Molina Healthcare currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.44.

About Molina Healthcare

Molina Healthcare, Inc is a managed care company specializing in government-sponsored health insurance programs. The company offers Medicaid managed care plans, Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, and individual Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act. Through an integrated care model, Molina emphasizes preventive and primary care services, care coordination, and disease management to improve health outcomes for its members.

The company traces its roots to the early 1980s, when Dr.