Board of the Pension Protection Fund Acquires New Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,300 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $908,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Leidos by 1.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 168,881 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $24,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 42,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,273,000 after acquiring an additional 887 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Leidos by 173.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,381 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Leidos during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,674,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 127.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 301,050 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $43,917,000 after purchasing an additional 168,800 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Surya N. Mohapatra sold 2,748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.97, for a total value of $535,777.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,899,594.97. This represents a 12.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total transaction of $193,632.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,185,095.52. The trade was a 14.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $153.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.23. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $107.73 and a 52-week high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a net margin of 7.37% and a return on equity of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on LDOS. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Leidos from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Leidos from $205.00 to $199.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.07.

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.