Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 868,189 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 86,302 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.65% of Leidos worth $125,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,167 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 3,703 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 12,464 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,800,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the period. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Leidos during the 4th quarter worth about $1,979,000. HM Payson & Co. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 959.8% in the 4th quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 2,374 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Leidos by 99.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 27,644 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $4,575,000 after buying an additional 13,818 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Leidos Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LDOS traded down $1.36 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $141.63. 803,490 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,200,421. The company has a 50-day moving average of $135.08 and a 200-day moving average of $151.95. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.23 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. 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 - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Leidos's payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on LDOS shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. William Blair lowered shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen downgraded Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Leidos from $191.00 to $173.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.23.

Leidos Company 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.