Pzena Investment Management LLC Decreases Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Pzena Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 55.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 223,876 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 279,004 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned 0.17% of Leidos worth $32,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 522,764 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Leidos by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,402,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 841,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $121,223,000 after buying an additional 239,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 53.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 576,022 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $93,891,000 after buying an additional 199,686 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the 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 represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $137.17 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.62. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.22 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. As a group, analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LDOS. StockNews.com cut Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut their target price on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.