Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Buys 377,756 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS - Free Report) by 435.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 464,573 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 377,756 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.35% of Leidos worth $67,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LDOS. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Leidos by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 20.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Leidos by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,197 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $749,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LDOS shares. William Blair lowered Leidos from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Leidos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Leidos from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,478,287.36. This trade 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 insiders.

Leidos Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE LDOS traded down $1.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $133.66. The company had a trading volume of 3,989,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,285. The stock has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company's fifty day moving average price is $139.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $123.23 and a 12 month high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Leidos's payout ratio is presently 17.32%.

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.