Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Short Interest Up 39.4% in February

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a growth of 39.4% from the January 31st total of 1,650,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 866,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on MMS. Raymond James raised Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Maximus Price Performance

NYSE MMS traded up $3.05 on Tuesday, hitting $67.39. 1,151,205 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,429. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.12 and a 200-day moving average of $80.73. 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 52 week low of $62.49 and a 52 week high of $93.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.72.

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, 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%. Analysts expect that Maximus will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.81%.

Insider Activity at Maximus

In other news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total value of $988,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,512 shares in the company, valued at $171,167.68. This trade represents a 85.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Raymond B. Ruddy purchased 3,490 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.46 per share, for a total transaction of $249,395.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 112,520 shares in the company, valued at $8,040,679.20. The trade was a 3.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 7,008 shares of company stock valued at $497,835 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maximus

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MMS. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Maximus by 79.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 356 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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. Petrus Trust Company LTA boosted its holdings in Maximus by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 7,084 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 52,400 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,912,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,927 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 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.