Norges Bank Purchases New Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,849,364 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,419,000. Norges Bank owned 1.39% of Leidos at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Leidos by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Leidos by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LDOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. William Blair downgraded Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 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 transaction of $279,278.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Leidos Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE LDOS opened at $133.95 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $137.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.64. The company has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.23 and a 12-month high of $202.90. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. Equities analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio 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.