Ieq Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,245 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $541,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Maximus by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,525,159 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $142,109,000 after buying an additional 21,532 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 12.4% during the third 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 722,172 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $54,748,000 after buying an additional 16,772 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its stake in Maximus by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 551,146 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $41,143,000 after purchasing an additional 167,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Maximus by 39.1% in 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. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bruce Caswell purchased 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.64 per share, with a total value of $247,240.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 275,929 shares in the company, valued at $19,491,624.56. This represents a 1.28 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond B. Ruddy acquired 3,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,040,679.20. The trade was a 3.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 7,063 shares of company stock valued at $502,017 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Maximus Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of MMS stock opened at $66.68 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.24. Maximus, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.53 and a twelve month high of $93.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Maximus, Inc. 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 Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio is 25.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James upgraded Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

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.