Short Interest in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Expands By 39.4%

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a growth of 39.4% from the January 31st total of 1,650,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 866,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $988,030.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $171,167.68. This trade represents a 85.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Bruce Caswell acquired 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.64 per share, with a total value of $247,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 275,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,491,624.56. This represents a 1.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 7,008 shares of company stock valued at $497,835 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Maximus by 3.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 2.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Maximus by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,525,159 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $142,109,000 after purchasing an additional 21,532 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Maximus by 14.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Van Berkom & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $93,792,000 after purchasing an additional 98,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company's stock.

Maximus Price Performance

NYSE:MMS traded up $3.25 on Friday, hitting $71.26. The company had a trading volume of 871,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 476,008. Maximus has a 52 week low of $63.77 and a 52 week high of $93.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.41.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 EPS 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 will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Maximus's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.