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

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a decline of 14.0% from the February 28th total of 1,790,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 738,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Maximus Stock Performance

Maximus stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $68.30. The stock had a trading volume of 54,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,963. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $69.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.51. Maximus has a 1 year low of $63.77 and a 1 year high of $93.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 announced 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Maximus will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued 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 yield of 1.76%. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,548,284 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $488,829,000 after buying an additional 205,564 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Maximus by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,782,150 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $207,687,000 after purchasing an additional 55,583 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Maximus by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,525,159 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $142,109,000 after purchasing an additional 21,532 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Maximus by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,406,592 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $105,001,000 after purchasing an additional 177,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Maximus by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,256,418 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 98,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

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.