Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Position Increased by Horizon Investment Services LLC

Horizon Investment Services LLC raised its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 18.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,333 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 2,405 shares during the period. Horizon Investment Services LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $2,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Leidos by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Leidos by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Leidos by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Leidos by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. William Blair downgraded Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Down 1.3 %

LDOS stock opened at $133.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.65. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.23 and a 52-week high of $202.90. 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 (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

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.