Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $275.00, but opened at $325.00. Molina Healthcare shares last traded at $332.36, with a volume of 300,912 shares.

The company reported $6.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.96 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.92 billion. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 28.09% and a net margin of 2.84%. Molina Healthcare’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.05 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MOH. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Molina Healthcare from $440.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $359.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $354.00 to $353.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $405.00 to $331.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $420.00 to $395.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Molina Healthcare has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $367.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Molina Healthcare news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 393 shares of Molina Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.52, for a total value of $136,182.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,583.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Molina Healthcare news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 393 shares of Molina Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.52, for a total value of $136,182.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,282,583.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven J. Orlando sold 1,000 shares of Molina Healthcare stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.21, for a total value of $339,210.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,025 shares in the company, valued at $6,114,260.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Molina Healthcare

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MOH. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 139.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 64,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,497,000 after buying an additional 37,509 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Finally, JLB & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 48.6% during the first quarter. JLB & Associates Inc. now owns 9,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,699,000 after purchasing an additional 2,944 shares during the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $335.23 and a 200-day moving average of $330.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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.