Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 4,036 Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) by 23.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,025 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,036 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $7,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Molina Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at $69,320,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Molina Healthcare by 434.6% during the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 185,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,181,000 after purchasing an additional 150,890 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Molina Healthcare by 36.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Molina Healthcare by 13.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 103,245 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MOH shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Molina Healthcare from $359.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Molina Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $406.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Molina Healthcare from $360.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Molina Healthcare from $405.00 to $331.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.17.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE MOH opened at $298.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.59. Molina Healthcare, Inc. has a twelve month low of $272.69 and a twelve month high of $423.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $323.09 and a 200 day moving average of $323.71.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.92 billion. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 2.92%. Molina Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Molina Healthcare, Inc. will post 23.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Molina Healthcare Profile

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.