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

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a decrease of 27.0% from the January 15th total of 2,260,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 921,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Maximus

In other news, Director Raymond B. Ruddy purchased 3,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $71.46 per share, with a total value of $249,395.40. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 112,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,040,679.20. This represents a 3.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.83, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 25.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 7,063 shares of company stock valued at $502,017. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at about $71,443,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Maximus by 277.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 878,894 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $81,878,000 after purchasing an additional 645,760 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Maximus by 74.8% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 882,953 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $65,912,000 after purchasing an additional 377,705 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Maximus by 189.1% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 423,298 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $31,599,000 after purchasing an additional 276,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Maximus by 1,319.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 224,267 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 208,463 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Maximus Price Performance

MMS stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 711,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 679,035. Maximus has a 1 year low of $66.52 and a 1 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.12 and its 200-day moving average is $82.40.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last issued 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 return on equity of 21.95% and a net margin of 5.28%. On average, research analysts expect that Maximus will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Maximus’s payout ratio is 25.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MMS. StockNews.com lowered Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James upgraded Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

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.