Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Short Interest Update

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,790,000 shares, a decrease of 22.2% from the February 13th total of 2,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 766,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $988,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,512 shares in the company, valued at $171,167.68. This represents a 85.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maximus

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MMS. 111 Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $361,000. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Maximus in the fourth quarter worth about $222,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new stake in Maximus in the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Maximus by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,782,150 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $207,687,000 after buying an additional 55,583 shares during the period. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Maximus during the 4th quarter worth about $252,000. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MMS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Maximus Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MMS traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.19. The stock had a trading volume of 86,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,319. The business’s fifty day moving average is $71.66 and its 200 day moving average is $78.96. Maximus has a 52-week low of $63.77 and a 52-week high of $93.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.71.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

About Maximus

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.