South Dakota Investment Council Buys 64,985 Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc $MOH

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH) by 62.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 168,307 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,985 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $22,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 7G Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare in the 4th quarter valued at $1,735,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 63.0% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 439,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,248,000 after acquiring an additional 169,739 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 27.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 38,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,944,000 after acquiring an additional 8,381 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 451.1% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 42,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,368,000 after acquiring an additional 34,751 shares during the period. Finally, Aurora Investment Managers LLC. bought a new position in Molina Healthcare in the first quarter valued at about $2,349,000. Institutional investors own 98.50% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $114,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,454,713.25. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeff D. Barlow sold 17,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.12, for a total transaction of $3,314,983.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 67,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,502,611. The trade was a 20.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on MOH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $169.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Mizuho set a $215.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $180.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Molina Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Molina Healthcare from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $202.44.

Molina Healthcare Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE MOH opened at $199.06 on Thursday. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a 12 month low of $121.06 and a 12 month high of $244.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $207.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a PE ratio of -1,105.83, a P/E/G ratio of 28.70 and a beta of 0.74.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $10.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.83 billion. Molina Healthcare had a positive return on equity of 3.73% and a negative net margin of 0.02%.The company’s revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.48 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

About Molina Healthcare

Molina Healthcare, Inc is a managed care company specializing in government-sponsored health insurance programs. The company offers Medicaid managed care plans, Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, and individual Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act. Through an integrated care model, Molina emphasizes preventive and primary care services, care coordination, and disease management to improve health outcomes for its members.

The company traces its roots to the early 1980s, when Dr.