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

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a drop of 14.0% from the February 28th total of 1,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 738,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at Maximus

In other Maximus news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $988,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,167.68. The trade was a 85.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jan Madsen sold 2,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total value of $165,144.69. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,225,347.87. This represents a 11.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Maximus

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in Maximus during the fourth quarter worth about $4,618,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in Maximus by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 296,476 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $22,132,000 after purchasing an additional 83,390 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Maximus by 62.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,113,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Maximus by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 32,134 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $2,399,000 after acquiring an additional 8,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Maximus Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MMS traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.30. 54,506 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 531,963. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.51. Maximus has a 1 year low of $63.77 and a 1 year high of $93.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.22. Maximus had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 21.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Maximus will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. 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.