Natixis Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 169,566 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 11,239 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $24,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 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 valued at $392,133,000 after buying an additional 522,764 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 13.1% during 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,402,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Leidos by 625.4% in the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 281,452 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $40,546,000 after acquiring an additional 242,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew 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 worth $121,223,000 after purchasing an additional 239,846 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $138.35 on Tuesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.23 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.88.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Leidos’s payout ratio is 17.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LDOS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Six investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.87.

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.