Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 888,400 shares, a decrease of 24.1% from the October 15th total of 1,170,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 622,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Molina Healthcare

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MOH. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Molina Healthcare during the 1st quarter worth $69,320,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 434.6% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 185,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,181,000 after acquiring an additional 150,890 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 36.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 463,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,810,000 after purchasing an additional 123,121 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 949,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,343,000 after purchasing an additional 111,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 798,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,101,000 after purchasing an additional 103,245 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Molina Healthcare from $412.00 to $351.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Molina Healthcare from $354.00 to $353.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $354.00 to $297.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $406.00 price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $359.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Molina Healthcare has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.17.

Molina Healthcare Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE MOH traded down $11.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $294.34. 712,051 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 959,482. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $328.20 and a 200 day moving average of $325.54. Molina Healthcare has a 1 year low of $272.69 and a 1 year high of $423.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.59.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $6.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.92 billion. Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Molina Healthcare will post 23.44 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.