Principal Securities Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH)

Principal Securities Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 489 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,341,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $381,898,000 after buying an additional 58,038 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in Booz Allen Hamilton by 28.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,288,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $209,651,000 after acquiring an additional 285,621 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Booz Allen Hamilton by 3.6% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 957,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $155,810,000 after acquiring an additional 32,897 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Booz Allen Hamilton by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 951,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $122,472,000 after acquiring an additional 324,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Booz Allen Hamilton by 1.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 856,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $139,394,000 after acquiring an additional 9,480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.82% of the company’s stock.

Booz Allen Hamilton Price Performance

Booz Allen Hamilton stock opened at $112.27 on Monday. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $190.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $129.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.79. The company has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.73, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last released 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 net margin of 7.39% and a return on equity of 68.97%. Sell-side analysts predict that Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Booz Allen Hamilton’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BAH. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in a research report on Friday, February 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $159.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $210.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.91.

Booz Allen Hamilton Profile

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.