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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MMS. StockNews.com lowered Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James raised 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.

Maximus Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MMS traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $67.69. The company had a trading volume of 711,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 679,035. Maximus has a one year low of $66.52 and a one year high of $93.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Maximus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

Insider Activity at Maximus

In other Maximus news, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.83, for a total transaction of $163,016.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bruce Caswell purchased 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.64 per share, with a total value of $247,240.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 275,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,491,624.56. The trade was a 1.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 7,063 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in Maximus during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,618,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $22,132,000 after acquiring an additional 83,390 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Maximus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 213.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,500 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $792,000 after acquiring an additional 5,789 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 929,066 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $86,552,000 after acquiring an additional 102,350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

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.