Candriam S.C.A. Buys 744 Shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH)

Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 744 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Booz Allen Hamilton were worth $1,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Booz Allen Hamilton during the 4th quarter valued at about $173,055,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $122,472,000 after buying an additional 324,159 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,349,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in 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 worth $209,651,000 after acquiring an additional 285,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Booz Allen Hamilton by 878.1% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 243,882 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,388,000 after acquiring an additional 218,949 shares in the last quarter. 91.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Booz Allen Hamilton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BAH opened at $116.68 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.72. Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. has a 12-month low of $101.82 and a 12-month high of $190.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $125.17 and a 200 day moving average of $145.08.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 68.97% and a net margin of 7.39%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from Booz Allen Hamilton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Booz Allen Hamilton’s payout ratio is 32.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BAH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Booz Allen Hamilton from $180.00 to $164.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Booz Allen Hamilton from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. William Blair cut shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.