Prudential Financial Inc. Purchases 3,669 Shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS - Free Report) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,927 shares of the health services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,669 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Maximus were worth $1,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Maximus by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,548,284 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $488,829,000 after purchasing an additional 205,564 shares during the period. Bridge City Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 28,503 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at $1,821,000. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Maximus by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 52,400 shares of the health services provider's stock valued at $3,912,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Maximus news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $988,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $171,167.68. This represents a 85.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jan Madsen sold 2,439 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 18,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,225,347.87. This represents a 11.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Maximus Price Performance

Shares of MMS traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $67.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 543,205. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47 and a beta of 0.68. Maximus, Inc. has a one year low of $63.77 and a one year high of $93.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $68.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.49.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Maximus's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

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.