Short Interest in Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) Drops By 24.1%

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

Molina Healthcare Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of MOH traded down $11.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $294.34. The stock had a trading volume of 712,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 959,482. Molina Healthcare has a 1 year low of $272.69 and a 1 year high of $423.92. The firm has a market cap of $16.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $328.20 and its 200 day moving average is $325.54.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The company had revenue of $10.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Molina Healthcare will post 23.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Molina Healthcare from $412.00 to $351.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $405.00 to $331.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $354.00 to $297.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $354.00 to $353.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOH. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Molina Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at about $69,320,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 434.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 185,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,181,000 after buying an additional 150,890 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew 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 worth $137,810,000 after buying an additional 123,121 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew 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 worth $282,343,000 after buying an additional 111,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew 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 buying an additional 103,245 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

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.