Farther Finance Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,144 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 559 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LDOS. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,839 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Miller Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at about $460,000. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 17,148 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 69,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,011,000 after purchasing an additional 17,465 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Price Performance

Leidos stock opened at $134.59 on Monday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.23 and a 12-month high of $202.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $140.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.01. 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 (NYSE:LDOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Equities analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the business’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 transaction 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 represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. William Blair downgraded shares of 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 dropped their target price for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Six research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.