Maximus (NYSE:MMS) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Maximus (NYSE:MMS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Maximus Price Performance

Maximus stock opened at $67.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.69 and a 200-day moving average of $73.32. Maximus has a 52-week low of $63.77 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.61.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 21.95% and a net margin of 5.28%. As a group, analysts predict that Maximus will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maximus

In other Maximus news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,512 shares in the company, valued at $171,167.68. The trade was a 85.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jan Madsen sold 2,439 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total value of $165,144.69. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,097 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,225,347.87. This trade represents a 11.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Maximus

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Maximus by 285.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,971 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $15,927,000 after purchasing an additional 126,573 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Maximus by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 223,766 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $20,846,000 after buying an additional 18,143 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,618,000. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Maximus by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 10,388 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Maximus by 45.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 47,956 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $3,580,000 after acquiring an additional 14,937 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.