Maximus (NYSE:MMS) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Maximus (NYSE:MMS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded 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.

Maximus Price Performance

MMS stock opened at $67.69 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.72. Maximus has a 52-week low of $66.52 and a 52-week high of $93.97.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Maximus will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Insider Activity at Maximus

In related news, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,841.61. This trade represents a 25.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bruce Caswell bought 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.64 per share, with a total value of $247,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 275,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,491,624.56. This trade represents a 1.28 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 7,063 shares of company stock worth $502,017. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Maximus by 3.2% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $142,109,000 after buying an additional 21,532 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 buying an additional 177,075 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 98,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Maximus by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,234,933 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $92,188,000 after buying an additional 84,835 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.