Korea Investment CORP Lowers Stock Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 42.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 175,496 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 130,521 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned about 0.13% of Leidos worth $25,282,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Leidos in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Leidos by 143.1% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 265 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 76.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on LDOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. William Blair lowered Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.07.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total value of $279,278.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of Leidos stock traded up $6.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $141.10. The company had a trading volume of 867,407 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,886. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $123.22 and a one year high of $202.90. The firm has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.37.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. 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.