Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,951 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,634 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton were worth $4,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BAH. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 461,517 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $59,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,435 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $933,000. Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,143,000 after purchasing an additional 18,930 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd increased its stake in Booz Allen Hamilton by 92.2% during the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 99,330 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,784,000 after buying an additional 47,655 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 951,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $122,472,000 after buying an additional 324,159 shares in the last quarter. 91.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BAH. Barclays raised Booz Allen Hamilton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Booz Allen Hamilton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $159.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.27.

Booz Allen Hamilton Price Performance

Shares of BAH opened at $112.54 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.75. The stock has a market cap of $14.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. has a 1-year low of $101.82 and a 1-year high of $190.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.07. Booz Allen Hamilton had a return on equity of 68.97% and a net margin of 7.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Booz Allen Hamilton’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

About Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation provides management and technology consulting, analytics, engineering, digital solutions, mission operations, and cyber services to governments, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations in the United States and internationally. It focuses on artificial intelligence services comprising of machine learning, predictive modeling, automation and decision analytics, and quantum computing.