By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS – Free Report) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,309 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Leidos were worth $1,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $392,133,000 after purchasing an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Leidos by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Leidos by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 841,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $121,223,000 after purchasing an additional 239,846 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Leidos by 53.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 576,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $93,891,000 after purchasing an additional 199,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 185.3% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 157,379 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $22,672,000 after acquiring an additional 102,214 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently commented on LDOS. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair downgraded shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Leidos presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.87.
Read Our Latest Report on LDOS
Leidos Stock Performance
Leidos stock opened at $139.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $141.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.22 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72.
Leidos (NYSE:LDOS – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.
Leidos Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.32%.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.
Leidos Profile
Leidos Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides services and solutions in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Defense Solutions, Civil, and Health segments. The Defense Solutions segment offers national security solutions and systems for air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace for the U.S.
Featured Articles
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding LDOS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Leidos Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Leidos and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.