Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Bought by Wakefield Asset Management LLLP

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP lifted its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 660.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 27,729 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,083 shares during the quarter. Leidos comprises approximately 1.3% of Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP’s holdings in Leidos were worth $3,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 34,773 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,009,000 after buying an additional 10,462 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 7,849 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Leidos by 110.3% during the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,256 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,708 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at $9,677,000. Finally, Heritage Investors Management Corp boosted its stake in Leidos by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 97,856 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $14,097,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on LDOS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. William Blair lowered Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.87.

Leidos Stock Performance

Leidos stock opened at $129.77 on Friday. 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 12 month low of $123.22 and a 12 month high of $202.90. The company has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.89 and its 200-day moving average is $156.26.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’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 value of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.