Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Short Interest Down 22.2% in February

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 2,512 shares in the company, valued at $171,167.68. The trade was a 85.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bruce Caswell purchased 3,500 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.64 per share, with a total value of $247,240.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,929 shares in the company, 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. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMS. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Maximus by 79.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 356 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Maximus during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Maximus by 65.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 453 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Maximus in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 62.4% in 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 in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MMS shares. StockNews.com lowered Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James raised Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Maximus Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE MMS traded up $0.68 on Monday, reaching $67.79. The stock had a trading volume of 224,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,896. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Maximus has a 1 year low of $63.77 and a 1 year high of $93.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.71.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.22. Maximus had a return on equity of 21.95% and a net margin of 5.28%. On average, 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 $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Maximus’s payout ratio is 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.