Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Acquired by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 64.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,522 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,558 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 27.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $392,133,000 after acquiring an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Leidos by 435.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 464,573 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $67,032,000 after purchasing an additional 377,756 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $40,402,000. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 242,651 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’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 value of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LDOS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. William Blair downgraded Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.07.

Leidos Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $135.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.15. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.23 and a twelve month high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.32%.

Leidos 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.