Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Purchased by Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 625.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,452 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 242,651 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $40,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 56,066 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 42,358 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Leidos by 2.5% during 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 during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Leidos Stock Down 2.4 %

LDOS opened at $134.07 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $155.48. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.22 and a twelve month high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research 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. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $175.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.