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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Booz Allen Hamilton from $185.00 to $155.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Raymond James raised Booz Allen Hamilton from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $180.00 to $164.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Booz Allen Hamilton from $200.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $210.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $158.27.

Booz Allen Hamilton Stock Up 6.7 %

BAH traded up $7.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $115.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,998,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,456,023. The business's fifty day moving average price is $125.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.40. 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 12 month low of $101.82 and a 12 month high of $190.59. The company has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.25, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH - Get Free Report) 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 return on equity of 68.97% and a net margin of 7.39%. Equities analysts anticipate that Booz Allen Hamilton will post 6.44 EPS for the current year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Booz Allen Hamilton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Booz Allen Hamilton's payout ratio is currently 32.79%.

Institutional Trading of Booz Allen Hamilton

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

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.