Short Interest in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Decreases By 14.0%

by · The Markets Daily

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS – Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a decrease 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 daily trading volume, of 738,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Maximus

In other Maximus news, 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were 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 owns 2,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $171,167.68. This represents a 85.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maximus

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MMS. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Maximus by 79.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 356 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 65.9% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 453 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA raised its holdings in shares of Maximus by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 7,084 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Maximus by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 52,400 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,912,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Maximus by 6.5% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,927 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Maximus Price Performance

Shares of MMS stock traded down $1.47 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $69.56. 168,859 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 535,702. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.46. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.71. Maximus has a fifty-two week low of $63.77 and a fifty-two week high of $93.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Maximus will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Maximus’s payout ratio is 25.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MMS shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of 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 target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on MMS

About Maximus

(Get Free Report)

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.

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