Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) Short Interest Up 43.1% in February

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,080,000 shares, a growth of 43.1% from the January 31st total of 4,250,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 4.9% of the company's stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booz Allen Hamilton

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Booz Allen Hamilton by 3.3% in 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 grew its stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,816 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Booz Allen Hamilton by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,160 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.82% of the company's stock.

Booz Allen Hamilton Price Performance

Shares of BAH stock traded up $4.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $110.01. 3,527,147 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,462,980. Booz Allen Hamilton has a fifty-two week low of $101.82 and a fifty-two week high of $190.59. The firm has a market cap of $13.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $126.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.91.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Booz Allen Hamilton will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Booz Allen Hamilton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Booz Allen Hamilton's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on BAH shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $185.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Booz Allen Hamilton to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays upgraded Booz Allen Hamilton from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $200.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booz Allen Hamilton has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $158.27.

Booz Allen Hamilton Company 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.