Norges Bank Makes New $71.44 Million Investment in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 957,045 shares of the health services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $71,443,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.68% of Maximus as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Maximus by 79.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 356 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Maximus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Maximus by 65.9% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 453 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Maximus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Maximus by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 786 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Maximus

In other Maximus news, Director Jan Madsen sold 2,439 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.71, for a total transaction of $165,144.69. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,097 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,225,347.87. This trade represents a 11.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ilene R. Baylinson sold 14,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.14, for a total transaction of $988,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $171,167.68. The trade was a 85.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently 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 research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Maximus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Maximus Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of Maximus stock opened at $71.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.72. Maximus, Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.77 and a 52 week high of $93.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.71.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 21.95%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, February 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

About Maximus

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.