Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Boosts Stake in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) by 79.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,949 shares of the health services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Maximus were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Maximus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,618,000. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its position in shares of Maximus by 39.1% during the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 296,476 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $22,132,000 after purchasing an additional 83,390 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP lifted its holdings in Maximus by 213.5% during the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 8,500 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 5,789 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Maximus by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 929,066 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $86,552,000 after buying an additional 102,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in Maximus by 143.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 59,448 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $5,538,000 after buying an additional 35,012 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Bruce Caswell purchased 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owns 275,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,491,624.56. The trade was a 1.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of Maximus stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.83, for a total transaction of $163,016.64. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,567 shares in the company, valued at $484,841.61. This represents a 25.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 7,063 shares of company stock worth $502,017. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Maximus Price Performance

Maximus stock opened at $69.86 on Monday. Maximus, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.30 and a 52-week high of $93.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.22. Maximus had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 21.95%. On average, research analysts expect that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Maximus’s payout ratio is 25.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MMS. Raymond James upgraded shares of Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Maximus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday.

Maximus Company 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.