Empirical Finance LLC Increases Holdings in Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH) by 2.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,728 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MOH. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 0.3% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,814,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 60.7% during the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 90 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 10,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,500,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 126.3% in the 1st quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 86 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Molina Healthcare Stock Up 4.3%

Molina Healthcare stock opened at $164.97 on Friday. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a twelve month low of $156.36 and a twelve month high of $365.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $267.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $296.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.55.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $5.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.50 by ($0.02). Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 27.72% and a net margin of 2.60%. The company had revenue of $11.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.86 EPS. Molina Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 24.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $270.00 to $186.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Mizuho cut their target price on Molina Healthcare from $400.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Molina Healthcare from $373.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim began coverage on Molina Healthcare in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Molina Healthcare from $260.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Joseph M. Zubretsky sold 87,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.06, for a total transaction of $28,005,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 257,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,484,262.90. This represents a 25.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard M. Schapiro sold 669 shares of Molina Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $214,414.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,244 shares in the company, valued at $3,603,702. This represents a 5.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.