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

Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)’s share price traded up 3.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $67.00 and last traded at $66.62. 133,909 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 466,030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.34.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James upgraded Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Maximus Stock Up 4.7 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.12 and a 200 day moving average of $80.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.72.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Maximus’s payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Maximus

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Maximus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 65.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Maximus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 786 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.