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

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Leidos by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,800,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $945,458,000 after acquiring an additional 56,066 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Leidos by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $571,216,000 after acquiring an additional 405,256 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,365,903 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $546,912,000 after acquiring an additional 42,358 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Leidos by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,133,000 after acquiring an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Leidos by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,153,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $351,007,000 after acquiring an additional 53,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. William Blair lowered shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $175.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Trading Up 4.8 %

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. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.22 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, 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 (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

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.