Raymond James Upgrades Maximus (NYSE:MMS) to "Outperform"

Raymond James upgraded shares of Maximus (NYSE:MMS - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Raymond James currently has $90.00 target price on the health services provider's stock.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Maximus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 27th.

Maximus Price Performance

Shares of MMS stock traded up $1.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $75.81. The company had a trading volume of 568,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,640. Maximus has a 52 week low of $69.72 and a 52 week high of $93.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock's 50-day moving average is $78.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.41.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Maximus's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.83, for a total value of $163,016.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $484,841.61. The trade was a 25.16 % 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 purchased 3,500 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.64 per share, for a total transaction of $247,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 275,929 shares in the company, valued at $19,491,624.56. The trade was a 1.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 7,063 shares of company stock worth $502,017 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Maximus

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MMS. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Maximus by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,525,159 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $142,109,000 after buying an additional 21,532 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Maximus by 7.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,153,977 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $98,904,000 after acquiring an additional 79,092 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 0.8% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,146,524 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $98,257,000 after purchasing an additional 8,811 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 12.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 929,066 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $86,552,000 after purchasing an additional 102,350 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Maximus by 277.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 878,894 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $81,878,000 after purchasing an additional 645,760 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock.

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.