Avanza Fonder AB Buys New Stake in Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,398,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 10.1% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Molina Healthcare by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 470,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,026,000 after acquiring an additional 84,929 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 133.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,603,000 after acquiring an additional 12,058 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 16.1% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 1,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Molina Healthcare by 16.0% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 19,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $360.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $406.00 price target on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Molina Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on Molina Healthcare from $359.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $350.00 price target (down previously from $378.00) on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $359.18.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of Molina Healthcare stock opened at $286.36 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average is $296.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.98. Molina Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $272.69 and a 52 week high of $423.92. The company has a market capitalization of $16.38 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.54.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $6.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.96 by $0.05. Molina Healthcare had a net margin of 2.92% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The firm had revenue of $10.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Molina Healthcare, Inc. will post 23.44 earnings per share for the current 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.