Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Cuts Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 44.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,140 shares of the aerospace company's stock after selling 12,724 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Leidos were worth $2,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Leidos by 1,460.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 156 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Leidos in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Leidos during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Leidos in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 251.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 281 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LDOS traded up $3.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $162.15. 1,714,500 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 921,219. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $21.64 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.68. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $105.34 and a twelve month high of $202.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.88.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.03 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Leidos's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Leidos's payout ratio is currently 17.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LDOS. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Leidos from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Leidos from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Leidos currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $191.23.

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.