Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Acquired by HM Payson & Co.

HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 959.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,374 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LDOS. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Leidos by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,133,000 after purchasing an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,402,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Leidos by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 841,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $121,223,000 after acquiring an additional 239,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Leidos by 53.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 576,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $93,891,000 after acquiring an additional 199,686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS opened at $139.49 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.74. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.22 and a 12-month high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.87.

About Leidos

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.