Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a decline of 27.0% from the January 15th total of 2,260,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 921,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MMS shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Transactions at Maximus

In other news, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.83, for a total transaction of $163,016.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,841.61. The trade was a 25.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bruce Caswell purchased 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.64 per share, for a total transaction of $247,240.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 275,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,491,624.56. This trade represents a 1.28 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 7,063 shares of company stock worth $502,017. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maximus

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Maximus during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Maximus by 79.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 356 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Maximus by 62.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 786 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Maximus Trading Up 1.0 %

MMS stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $67.76. The stock had a trading volume of 60,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,359. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Maximus has a 1-year low of $66.52 and a 1-year high of $93.97. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.73.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.22. Maximus had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 21.95%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Maximus will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Maximus Company Profile

Maximus, Inc operates as a provider of government services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Federal Services, U.S. Services, and Outside the U.S. The U.S. Services segment offers program eligibility support and enrollment; centralized multilingual customer contact centers, multichannel, and digital self-service options for enrollment; application assistance and independent health plan choice counseling; beneficiary outreach, education, eligibility, enrollment, and redeterminations; and person-centered independent disability, long-term sick, and other health assessments.