Ruffer LLP Raises Stock Holdings in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS)

Ruffer LLP boosted its stake in shares of Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,566 shares of the health services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,049 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP owned approximately 0.25% of Maximus worth $9,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Maximus by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,833 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 9,877 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 5.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,519 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 70.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 606 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Maximus by 0.7% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,936 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $2,723,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Maximus Stock Performance

NYSE:MMS traded up $1.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.10. 740,474 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 450,570. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $71.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.42. Maximus, Inc. has a one year low of $63.77 and a one year high of $93.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $4.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.60.

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

Maximus Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Maximus's dividend payout ratio is 23.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maximus

In other news, Director Gayathri Rajan sold 7,913 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.