Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 1,621 Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) by 53.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,632 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,621 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Molina Healthcare by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 3.4% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 2,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $503,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Hawaii raised its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 1,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

MOH stock opened at $283.92 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $298.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.54. Molina Healthcare, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $272.69 and a fifty-two week high of $423.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.54.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $5.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.74 by ($0.69). Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 28.13% and a net margin of 2.90%. Analysts forecast that Molina Healthcare, Inc. will post 24.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MOH. StockNews.com cut Molina Healthcare from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Molina Healthcare from $360.00 to $362.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $405.00 to $331.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $406.00 price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $374.00 to $325.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $355.67.

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.