Maximus (NYSE:MMS) Stock Price Up 3.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) rose 3.5% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $67.00 and last traded at $66.62. Approximately 133,909 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 466,030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MMS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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 Trading Up 4.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Maximus’s payout ratio is 25.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Raymond B. Ruddy acquired 3,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $71.46 per share, with a total value of $249,395.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 112,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,040,679.20. The trade was a 3.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bruce Caswell acquired 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.64 per share, with a total value of $247,240.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,491,624.56. This trade represents a 1.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maximus

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at $4,618,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its position in Maximus by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 296,476 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $22,132,000 after purchasing an additional 83,390 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at $1,113,000. Versor Investments LP lifted its position in Maximus by 213.5% during the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,500 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 5,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Maximus by 33.9% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 32,134 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $2,399,000 after purchasing an additional 8,138 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.