Maximus (NYSE:MMS) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Maximus (NYSE:MMS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Maximus Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:MMS opened at $75.09 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.71 and a 200-day moving average of $72.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.61. 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 has a 52-week low of $63.77 and a 52-week high of $93.97.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The health services provider reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Maximus had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 21.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Maximus will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio is 23.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Maximus

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Maximus by 79.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 356 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Maximus by 65.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 453 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Maximus by 17,533.3% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 529 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Maximus by 67.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 732 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

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.