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

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a drop of 14.0% from the February 28th total of 1,790,000 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 738,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Maximus

In related news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 2,512 shares in the company, valued at $171,167.68. This trade represents a 85.23 % 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, Director Jan Madsen sold 2,439 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total value of $165,144.69. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,097 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,225,347.87. This trade represents a 11.88 % 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.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maximus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MMS. 111 Capital acquired a new position in shares of Maximus in the fourth quarter worth $361,000. Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Maximus during the 4th quarter worth about $222,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new position in Maximus in the 4th quarter valued at about $259,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Maximus by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,782,150 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $207,687,000 after purchasing an additional 55,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Maximus during the 4th quarter worth about $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMS has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of Maximus from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Maximus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Maximus Stock Performance

NYSE:MMS traded down $2.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $66.49. The stock had a trading volume of 200,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,346. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.28 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Maximus has a 12-month low of $63.77 and a 12-month high of $93.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.12.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Maximus will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Maximus's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.81%.

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.