Booz Allen Hamilton Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BAH)

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 7,063 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 150% compared to the average volume of 2,829 put options.

Booz Allen Hamilton Stock Down 8.1 %

Shares of BAH opened at $103.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.47. 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 has a 1 year low of $101.82 and a 1 year high of $190.59.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Booz Allen Hamilton will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Booz Allen Hamilton’s dividend payout ratio is 32.79%.

Institutional Trading of Booz Allen Hamilton

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 3.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,822 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,160 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BAH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Booz Allen Hamilton from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James upgraded Booz Allen Hamilton from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on Booz Allen Hamilton in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $159.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Booz Allen Hamilton from $210.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Booz Allen Hamilton has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.27.

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.