Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Maximus, Inc. $MMS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Maximus by 2.7% in Q4, selling 174,453 shares and now holds 6,227,259 shares (about 11.42%) valued at roughly $537.5 million.
• Insider activity was mixed: Director Jan Madsen sold 742 shares at $72.25 while CEO Bruce Caswell bought 3,175 shares at $78.45, bringing his total to 328,013 shares.
• Analysts have moved to a consensus "Hold" rating after several downgrades; Maximus slightly beat EPS ($1.85) despite a 4.1% y/y revenue decline, gave FY2026 guidance of $8.05–$8.35, and declared a $0.33 quarterly dividend (≈2.0% yield).

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Maximus, Inc. (NYSE:MMS - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,227,259 shares of the health services provider's stock after selling 174,453 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.42% of Maximus worth $537,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Maximus by 19.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 200,331 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $18,304,000 after acquiring an additional 33,136 shares during the period. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Maximus by 93.5% during the third quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP now owns 183,872 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $16,800,000 after acquiring an additional 88,872 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Maximus by 49.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 720,943 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $65,873,000 after acquiring an additional 237,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Maximus by 2.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,869,573 shares of the health services provider's stock worth $170,812,000 after acquiring an additional 36,989 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in Maximus during the third quarter worth about $6,208,000. 97.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Maximus news, Director Jan Madsen sold 742 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.25, for a total transaction of $53,609.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,502,438.75. This trade represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bruce Caswell acquired 3,175 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $78.45 per share, with a total value of $249,078.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 328,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,732,619.85. This trade represents a 0.98% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MMS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Maximus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Maximus from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Maximus from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold".

Maximus Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:MMS opened at $64.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Maximus, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.75 and a 1-year high of $100.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.41.

Maximus (NYSE:MMS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The health services provider reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.01. Maximus had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 6.92%.The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. Maximus's revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Maximus has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.050-8.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Maximus, Inc. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Maximus Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Maximus's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.09%.

About Maximus

Maximus, Inc NYSE: MMS is a global provider of government services focused on delivering health and human services programs. The company partners with federal, state, and local agencies to administer and manage programs that support individuals and families across various stages of life. Key service areas include eligibility determination and enrollment services for Medicaid, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and other public assistance programs, as well as call center operations, case management and program integrity solutions.

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