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

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of 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. Based on an average daily volume of 866,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 4.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MMS. StockNews.com cut Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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 for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Bruce Caswell acquired 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.64 per share, with a total value of $247,240.00. Following 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $171,167.68. The trade was a 85.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have acquired 7,008 shares of company stock valued at $497,835 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maximus

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Maximus by 79.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 356 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Maximus by 65.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 453 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA raised its holdings in Maximus by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 7,084 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Maximus by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 52,400 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,912,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP raised its holdings in Maximus by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,927 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Maximus Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MMS stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $67.47. 232,314 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 469,422. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.58. Maximus has a 12-month low of $63.77 and a 12-month high of $93.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.72. 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 (NYSE:MMS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) 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, 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Maximus’s payout ratio is 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.