Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 193,554 Shares of Molina Healthcare, Inc $MOH

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH) by 333.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 251,607 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 193,554 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $33,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MOH. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Molina Healthcare in the 1st quarter worth approximately $925,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Molina Healthcare by 90.7% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 8,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Molina Healthcare during the 1st quarter valued at $384,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in Molina Healthcare by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,698,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in Molina Healthcare in the first quarter worth $379,000. 98.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MOH opened at $225.66 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 1.63. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a one year low of $121.06 and a one year high of $244.89. The firm has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 66.76 and a beta of 0.74.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.78. Molina Healthcare had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 0.42%.The firm had revenue of $10.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.08 earnings per share. Molina Healthcare’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Molina Healthcare has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.000- EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 5.23 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $114,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 12,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,454,713.25. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jeff D. Barlow sold 17,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.12, for a total value of $3,314,983.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 67,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,502,611. This represents a 20.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MOH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Molina Healthcare from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Molina Healthcare from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $129.00 price target on shares of Molina Healthcare in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Molina Healthcare from $144.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $207.06.

Molina Healthcare Profile

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.