Traders Purchase Large Volume of Booz Allen Hamilton Put Options (NYSE:BAH)

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co. (NYSE:BAH) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 7,063 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 150% compared to the average daily volume of 2,829 put options.

Institutional Trading of Booz Allen Hamilton

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BAH. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 387.5% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 195 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 144.1% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Booz Allen Hamilton by 3,314.3% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. 91.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booz Allen Hamilton Trading Up 0.6 %

BAH opened at $104.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $121.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $142.10. 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 $101.05 and a 12-month high of $190.59.

Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Booz Allen Hamilton will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Booz Allen Hamilton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors 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 2.11%. Booz Allen Hamilton’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Booz Allen Hamilton to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Booz Allen Hamilton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen cut 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 research report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Booz Allen Hamilton in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $159.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.