Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 247,770 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 27,527 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.19% of Leidos worth $35,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Leidos by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,450,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,225,784,000 after buying an additional 84,003 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,216,000 after acquiring an additional 405,256 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Leidos by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,393,313 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $487,649,000 after purchasing an additional 27,410 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Leidos during the 4th quarter worth $266,419,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Leidos by 510.6% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 999,661 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $144,011,000 after purchasing an additional 835,930 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LDOS. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.07.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $132.93 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.88. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.23 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The firm has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Company 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.