iA Global Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BAH. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Booz Allen Hamilton during the fourth quarter worth about $173,055,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Booz Allen Hamilton by 328.1% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 431,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,475,000 after purchasing an additional 330,344 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 951,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $122,472,000 after acquiring an additional 324,159 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,349,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,288,101 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $209,651,000 after acquiring an additional 285,621 shares during the period. 91.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from $180.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Raymond James raised shares of 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Booz Allen Hamilton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booz Allen Hamilton currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.27.

Booz Allen Hamilton Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE BAH opened at $104.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. has a 52 week low of $101.05 and a 52 week high of $190.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $121.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.00.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Booz Allen Hamilton’s payout ratio is 32.79%.

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.