Legato Capital Management LLC Acquires 8,138 Shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) by 33.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,134 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,138 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Maximus were worth $2,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Maximus in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $216,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Maximus by 150.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 862 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Maximus by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,445 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 333 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Maximus by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,386 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Maximus by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,500 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MMS has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Maximus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James raised 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maximus

In other Maximus news, Director Raymond B. Ruddy bought 3,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.46 per share, for a total transaction of $249,395.40. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 112,520 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,040,679.20. The trade was a 3.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.83, for a total transaction of $163,016.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 6,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,841.61. This represents a 25.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 7,063 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Maximus Price Performance

Maximus stock opened at $67.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.72. Maximus, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.20 and a 12-month high of $93.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last released its earnings results 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Maximus’s payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Maximus Profile

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.