Paralel Advisors LLC Acquires 1,736 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Paralel Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 fund owned 19,149 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,736 shares during the quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $2,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,167 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 3,703 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,464 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,800,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter worth $1,979,000. HM Payson & Co. grew its position in Leidos by 959.8% during the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,374 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 99.9% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,644 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $4,575,000 after acquiring an additional 13,818 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on LDOS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Leidos from $191.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.79.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS stock traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $139.01. 34,525 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,190,667. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.23 and a 12 month high of $202.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $135.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.35.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. On average, analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.