Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 639,439 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 7,514 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.47% of Leidos worth $93,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Leidos during the 4th quarter valued at $202,191,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 9,164.4% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 578,561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $62,623,000 after acquiring an additional 572,316 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of Leidos by 1,184.3% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 501,868 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $73,213,000 after acquiring an additional 462,792 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Leidos by 138.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 517,498 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $67,840,000 after acquiring an additional 300,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Leidos by 276.5% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 304,489 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $39,915,000 after purchasing an additional 223,613 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LDOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Leidos from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Leidos from $155.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $168.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.25.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $153,798.57. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,082,689.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total transaction of $144,020.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,622,241.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $153,798.57. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,082,689.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Up 0.7 %

LDOS stock opened at $158.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.43 billion, a PE ratio of 68.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $148.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.78. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $89.22 and a fifty-two week high of $158.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 28.40%. Leidos’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.97 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Leidos’s payout ratio is 65.52%.

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.