Legal & General Group Plc Sells 6,371 Shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,624 shares of the health services provider's stock after selling 6,371 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.18% of Maximus worth $7,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Maximus by 79.8% during the fourth 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. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Maximus in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Maximus by 65.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Maximus during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Maximus by 62.4% during 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 during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MMS shares. StockNews.com cut Maximus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Maximus from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Maximus Stock Performance

MMS stock traded up $0.47 on Thursday, reaching $68.78. 46,532 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 549,744. Maximus, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.77 and a 12 month high of $93.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77 and a beta of 0.68. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $67.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) last released 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Maximus's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.81%.

Insider Activity

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

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.