Short Interest in Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH) Rises By 30.4%

Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,767,698 shares, an increase of 30.4% from the January 29th total of 2,889,851 shares. Approximately 7.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,978,126 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Based on an average trading volume of 2,978,126 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 7.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Molina Healthcare

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 0.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 22,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,351,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 6.3% in the second quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MOH shares. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $190.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $160.00 price objective on Molina Healthcare in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $141.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare from $164.00 to $133.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.86.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

NYSE:MOH traded down $1.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $152.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,211,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,299,291. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $167.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.69. Molina Healthcare has a 1 year low of $121.06 and a 1 year high of $359.97.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported ($2.75) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($3.18). The business had revenue of $11.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 1.04%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.05 EPS. Molina Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000- EPS. Analysts anticipate that Molina Healthcare will post 24.4 EPS for the current fiscal 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.