Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 64.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,800,357 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $945,458,000 after buying an additional 56,066 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Leidos by 13.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $571,216,000 after purchasing an additional 405,256 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Leidos by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,365,903 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $546,912,000 after buying an additional 42,358 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Leidos by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $392,133,000 after purchasing an additional 522,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 841,479 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $121,223,000 after acquiring an additional 239,846 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen downgraded Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, William Blair downgraded shares of Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Six equities 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.07.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS stock traded down $1.73 on Friday, reaching $133.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,590,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,142,253. The company has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $137.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.23 and a 1 year high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Leidos's payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

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.