Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $25.55 Million Position in Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:MOH) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,160 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,389 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $25,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 516.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,206,000 after buying an additional 8,577 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 28.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,253,000 after buying an additional 2,288 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare in the 1st quarter valued at about $69,320,000. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.52, for a total value of $136,182.36. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,473 shares in the company, valued at $3,282,583.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MOH shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $359.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $354.00 to $353.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Molina Healthcare from $412.00 to $351.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Molina Healthcare from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.17.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of MOH opened at $318.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $329.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $326.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.59. Molina Healthcare, Inc. has a 52 week low of $272.69 and a 52 week high of $423.92.

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

Molina Healthcare Company 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.