Schroder Investment Management Group Sells 58,768 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Schroder Investment Management Group cut its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 315,940 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 58,768 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.24% of Leidos worth $45,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,450,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,225,784,000 after buying an additional 84,003 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $945,458,000 after purchasing an additional 56,066 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,365,903 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $546,912,000 after purchasing an additional 42,358 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at about $266,419,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LDOS shares. TD Cowen lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.07.

Leidos Stock Performance

Leidos stock opened at $135.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.23 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 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Leidos’s payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos 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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.