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

Legato Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,134 shares of the health services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,138 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC owned 0.05% of Maximus worth $2,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Maximus by 79.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 356 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA raised its holdings in Maximus by 2.7% in the third quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA now owns 7,084 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Maximus by 6.5% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 3,927 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Maximus during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Maximus by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Maximus

In other news, CEO Bruce Caswell purchased 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.64 per share, for a total transaction of $247,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 275,929 shares in the company, valued at $19,491,624.56. This trade represents a 1.28 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Michelle F. Link sold 2,208 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 6,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,841.61. This trade represents a 25.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 7,063 shares of company stock worth $502,017. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Maximus Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of Maximus stock opened at $67.68 on Wednesday. Maximus, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.20 and a twelve month high of $93.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.51 and its 200 day moving average is $82.95. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.72.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The health services provider reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, February 15th will be given a $0.30 dividend. 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 presently 25.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on MMS shares. StockNews.com raised Maximus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James upgraded Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

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.