Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Stock Holdings in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its stake in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS - Free Report) by 5.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,889 shares of the health services provider's stock after selling 4,281 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.12% of Maximus worth $4,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Maximus by 32.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,228 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Maximus by 5.8% in the first quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 30,870 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $2,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Maximus in the first quarter worth $155,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Maximus by 25.9% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,286 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Maximus by 70.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 4,196 shares during the last quarter. 97.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Maximus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th.

Maximus Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MMS traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $70.05. 385,647 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 572,037. The company has a market cap of $3.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. Maximus, Inc. has a one year low of $63.77 and a one year high of $93.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.66 and a 200 day moving average of $70.92.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The health services provider reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Maximus had a return on equity of 23.37% and a net margin of 5.56%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Maximus, Inc. will post 6.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Maximus's payout ratio is currently 23.86%.

Insider Activity

In other Maximus news, Director Gayathri Rajan sold 7,913 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.38, for a total value of $572,742.94. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,028,157.90. This represents a 35.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.