Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Has $12.88 Million Position in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,546 shares of the health services provider’s stock after selling 1,233 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC owned 0.30% of Maximus worth $12,881,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MMS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Maximus during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of 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 period. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Maximus in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Maximus in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Maximus by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,017 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Maximus

In related news, CEO Bruce Caswell purchased 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.64 per share, for a total transaction of $247,240.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,929 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,491,624.56. This trade represents a 1.28 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.83, for a total transaction of $163,016.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $484,841.61. This represents a 25.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 7,063 shares of company stock worth $502,017 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Maximus Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MMS opened at $67.69 on Tuesday. Maximus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.52 and a fifty-two week high of $93.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.72.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.22. Maximus had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 21.95%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

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

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.