Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 868,189 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 86,302 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.65% of Leidos worth $125,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at $266,419,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Leidos by 510.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 999,661 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $144,011,000 after acquiring an additional 835,930 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Leidos by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,630,448 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $378,942,000 after purchasing an additional 682,532 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Leidos by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Leidos by 435.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 464,573 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $67,032,000 after purchasing an additional 377,756 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LDOS shares. William Blair lowered Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Leidos from $191.00 to $173.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Stock Up 0.0 %

Leidos stock opened at $139.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.23 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.32%.

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.