Polaris Capital Management LLC Buys 3,400 Shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Polaris Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,200 shares of the health services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Maximus were worth $1,881,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MMS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Maximus by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,525,159 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $142,109,000 after buying an additional 21,532 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Maximus by 12.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 102,350 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Maximus by 277.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 878,894 shares of the health services provider’s stock valued at $81,878,000 after acquiring an additional 645,760 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Maximus by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 705,400 shares of the health services provider’s stock worth $65,715,000 after purchasing an additional 8,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Maximus by 43.5% during the fourth 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 period. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Maximus

In related news, CEO Bruce Caswell acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.64 per share, for a total transaction of $247,240.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 275,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,491,624.56. This represents a 1.28 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were bought at an average cost of $71.46 per share, with a total value of $249,395.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 112,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,040,679.20. This represents a 3.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 7,063 shares of company stock worth $502,017. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MMS. Raymond James raised shares of Maximus from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Maximus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Maximus Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMS opened at $69.75 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $74.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.12. Maximus, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.15 and a 1 year high of $93.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.00 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 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, equities research analysts expect that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Maximus’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.