Short Interest in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Grows By 29.9%

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,000,000 shares, an increase of 29.9% from the March 15th total of 1,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 698,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Maximus Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MMS stock traded up $0.05 on Thursday, reaching $68.36. 22,308 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 653,752. 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 has a one year low of $63.77 and a one year high of $93.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.92.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Maximus will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Maximus's payout ratio is 25.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MMS shares. StockNews.com cut Maximus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Maximus from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Maximus by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,548,284 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $488,829,000 after acquiring an additional 205,564 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Maximus by 2.0% during 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Maximus by 14.4% in 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 buying an additional 177,075 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Maximus by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,234,933 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $92,188,000 after purchasing an additional 84,835 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.