Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH)

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reissued by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $374.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price target points to a potential upside of 4.25% from the stock’s current price.

MOH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $340.00 to $350.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Molina Healthcare from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Molina Healthcare from $367.00 to $392.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Molina Healthcare presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $349.82.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of MOH stock traded up $2.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $358.77. 31,414 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 464,572. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $340.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Molina Healthcare has a fifty-two week low of $256.19 and a fifty-two week high of $369.50.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The company reported $5.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.87 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $8.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.24 billion. Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 34.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.36 EPS. Analysts predict that Molina Healthcare will post 20.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Molina Healthcare

In other Molina Healthcare news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 692 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.15, for a total transaction of $227,079.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,798,463.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 692 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.15, for a total value of $227,079.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,798,463.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven J. Orlando sold 1,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.96, for a total value of $369,638.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,299 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,290,702.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Molina Healthcare

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,449,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,151,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,372 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,865,464 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,465,672,000 after acquiring an additional 113,511 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 4,352,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,033,000 after acquiring an additional 53,139 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 59.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,787,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,013,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 40.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,603,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $696,362,000 after purchasing an additional 749,696 shares during the period. 98.11% of the stock is 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.