WealthTrust Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

WealthTrust Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 32.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,603 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,131 shares during the quarter. WealthTrust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Globeflex Capital L P grew its holdings in Leidos by 45.0% in the 4th quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 2,900 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Sienna Gestion purchased a new position in Leidos in the fourth quarter worth about $3,356,000. LBP AM SA raised its holdings in Leidos by 54.8% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 21,665 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 7,665 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Leidos by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,646 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after buying an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 625.4% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 281,452 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $40,546,000 after acquiring an additional 242,651 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LDOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.87.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $134.59 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $123.23 and a twelve month high of $202.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $140.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.02. The stock has a market cap of $17.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.