MOH Butterfly Strategy
MOH (Molina Healthcare, Inc.), in the Healthcare sector, (Medical - Healthcare Plans industry), listed on NYSE.
Molina Healthcare, Inc. provides managed health care 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. As of December 31, 2021, the company served the company served approximately 5.2 million members eligible for Medicaid, Medicare, and other government-sponsored healthcare programs in 18 states. The company was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.
MOH (Molina Healthcare, Inc.) trades in the Healthcare sector, specifically Medical - Healthcare Plans, with a market capitalization of approximately $10.00B, a trailing P/E of 52.08, a beta of 0.85 versus the broader market, a 52-week range of 121.06-327.68, average daily share volume of 1.6M, a public-listing history dating back to 2003, approximately 18K full-time employees. These structural characteristics shape how MOH stock options price implied volatility around earnings windows, capital events, and macro-driven sector rotations.
A beta of 0.85 places MOH roughly in line with broader market moves, so the strategy payoff and realized volatility track the index-equivalent baseline. The trailing P/E of 52.08 is on the rich side, which tends to correlate with higher earnings-window IV expansion as the market debates whether forward growth supports the multiple.
What is a butterfly on MOH?
A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration.
Current MOH snapshot
As of May 15, 2026, spot at $184.94, ATM IV 42.20%, IV rank 26.75%, expected move 12.10%. The butterfly on MOH below is built from the same end-of-day chain, with strikes snapped to listed contracts and premiums pulled from the bid/ask midpoint at a 34-day expiry.
Why this butterfly structure on MOH specifically: MOH IV at 42.20% is on the cheap side of its 1-year range, which favors premium-buying structures like a MOH butterfly, with a market-implied 1-standard-deviation move of approximately 12.10% (roughly $22.37 on the underlying). The 34-day window matched to the front-month expiry keeps theta exposure bounded while still capturing the post-snapshot move; longer-dated MOH expiries trade a higher absolute premium for lower per-day decay. Position sizing on MOH should anchor to the underlying notional of $184.94 per share and to the trader's directional view on MOH stock.
MOH butterfly setup
The MOH butterfly below is built from the end-of-day chain, with each option leg priced at the bid/ask midpoint of its listed strike. With MOH near $184.94, the first option leg uses a $175.00 strike; additional legs (when the strategy has them) anchor to spot-relative offsets. Premiums come from the bid/ask midpoint on the listed MOH chain at a 34-day expiry; the cross-strike IV skew is reflected directly in the per-leg values rather than approximated. Quantity sizing assumes one contract per option leg (or 100 MOH shares for the stock leg in covered calls and collars).
| Action | Type | Strike / Basis | Premium (est) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy 1 | Call | $175.00 | $16.10 |
| Sell 2 | Call | $185.00 | $10.05 |
| Buy 1 | Call | $195.00 | $5.65 |
MOH butterfly risk and reward
- Net Premium / Debit
- -$165.00
- Max Profit (per contract)
- $747.57
- Max Loss (per contract)
- -$165.00
- Breakeven(s)
- $176.65, $193.35
- Risk / Reward Ratio
- 4.531
Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit.
MOH butterfly payoff curve
Modeled P&L at expiration across a range of underlying prices for the butterfly on MOH. Each row is one sampled price point from the computed payoff curve; the full curve uses 200 price points internally before being summarized into 10 rows here.
| Underlying Price | % From Spot | P&L at Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| $0.01 | -100.0% | -$165.00 |
| $40.90 | -77.9% | -$165.00 |
| $81.79 | -55.8% | -$165.00 |
| $122.68 | -33.7% | -$165.00 |
| $163.57 | -11.6% | -$165.00 |
| $204.46 | +10.6% | -$165.00 |
| $245.35 | +32.7% | -$165.00 |
| $286.24 | +54.8% | -$165.00 |
| $327.13 | +76.9% | -$165.00 |
| $368.02 | +99.0% | -$165.00 |
When traders use butterfly on MOH
Butterflies on MOH are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect MOH to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
MOH thesis for this butterfly
The market-implied 1-standard-deviation range for MOH extends from approximately $162.57 on the downside to $207.31 on the upside. A MOH long call butterfly is a pinning play: it pays maximum at the middle strike if MOH settles there at expiration, with the wing legs capping both the cost and the maximum loss to the net debit. Current MOH IV rank near 26.75% sits in the lower third of its 1-year distribution, where IV often re-expands toward the mean; this favors premium-buying structures and disadvantages premium-selling structures on MOH at 42.20%. As a Healthcare name, MOH options can move on sector-level news flow (peer earnings, regulatory updates, industry-specific macro data) in addition to MOH-specific events.
MOH butterfly positions are structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward); the modeled P&L assumes European-style exercise at expiration and ignores early assignment, transaction costs, dividends paid before expiry on the stock leg (when present), and the bid-ask spread on the listed chain. MOH positions also carry Healthcare sector concentration risk; news flow inside the sector (peer earnings, regulatory shifts, supply-chain headlines) can move MOH alongside the broader basket even when MOH-specific fundamentals are unchanged. Always rebuild the position from current MOH chain quotes before placing a trade.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a butterfly on MOH?
- A butterfly on MOH is the butterfly strategy applied to MOH (stock). The strategy is structurally neutral / pin (limited-risk, limited-reward): A long call butterfly buys one lower-strike call, sells two ATM calls, and buys one higher-strike call, paying a small net debit for a defined-risk position that maxes out if the underlying pins the middle strike at expiration. With MOH stock trading near $184.94, the strikes shown on this page are snapped to the nearest listed MOH chain strike and the premiums come straight from the end-of-day bid/ask midpoint.
- How are MOH butterfly max profit and max loss calculated?
- Max profit equals the wing width minus net debit times 100 (reached when the underlying pins the middle strike); max loss equals the net debit times 100. Two breakevens at lower-wing plus debit and upper-wing minus debit. For the MOH butterfly priced from the end-of-day chain at a 30-day expiry (ATM IV 42.20%), the computed maximum profit is $747.57 per contract and the computed maximum loss is -$165.00 per contract. Live intraday quotes will differ as the chain moves through the trading session.
- What is the breakeven for a MOH butterfly?
- The breakeven for the MOH butterfly priced on this page is roughly $176.65 and $193.35 at expiration, derived from end-of-day chain premiums. Breakeven is the underlying price at which the strategy's P&L crosses zero ignoring transaction costs and assignment risk. The current MOH market-implied 1-standard-deviation expected move is approximately 12.10%; if the move sits well outside the breakeven distance, the structure's risk-reward becomes correspondingly tighter.
- When should you consider a butterfly on MOH?
- Butterflies on MOH are pinning bets - traders use them when they expect MOH to settle near a specific level at expiration (often the prior close, a round number, or the max-pain strike) and want defined-risk exposure to that outcome.
- How does current MOH implied volatility affect this butterfly?
- MOH ATM IV is at 42.20% with IV rank near 26.75%, which is on the low end of its 1-year range. Premium-buying structures (long call, long put, debit spreads) are relatively cheap in this regime; premium-selling structures collect less credit per unit risk.