Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) Stock Holdings Lessened by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH - Free Report) by 72.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,137 shares of the company's stock after selling 21,347 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $2,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Molina Healthcare in the second quarter worth $36,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 2,500.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 104 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Molina Healthcare during the 2nd quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Molina Healthcare during the third quarter worth about $62,000. 98.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MOH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Molina Healthcare from $360.00 to $362.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Molina Healthcare from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $406.00 target price on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $359.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $361.91.

Molina Healthcare Price Performance

Shares of Molina Healthcare stock traded down $1.01 on Thursday, hitting $294.18. The company had a trading volume of 318,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 555,148. Molina Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $272.69 and a 52 week high of $423.92. The company has a market cap of $16.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.94, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

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