Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,781 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,738 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Maximus worth $12,376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its holdings in Maximus by 43.5% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 551,146 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $41,143,000 after buying an additional 167,019 shares during the last quarter. Sio Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Maximus during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,453,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Maximus by 285.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 170,971 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $15,927,000 after purchasing an additional 126,573 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Maximus during the fourth quarter valued at $8,139,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 929,066 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $86,552,000 after buying an additional 102,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MMS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James upgraded Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maximus

In related news, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $988,030.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 6,567 shares in the company, 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 own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Maximus Stock Down 0.5 %

MMS stock opened at $66.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.14. Maximus, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.53 and a fifty-two week high of $93.97. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.22. Maximus had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 21.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.81%.

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.