Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 1,692 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,692 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.07% of Leidos worth $13,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Leidos by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 74,671 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,082,000 after purchasing an additional 11,576 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Leidos in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,512,000. Leeward Investments LLC MA boosted its holdings in Leidos by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 166,069 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $21,770,000 after acquiring an additional 7,703 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in Leidos during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,900,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Leidos by 97.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,904 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,692,000 after purchasing an additional 6,360 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 1,059 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,082,689.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,059 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.02, for a total value of $144,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,622,241.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $155.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Leidos from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Leidos from $168.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.25.

Leidos Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:LDOS opened at $155.80 on Wednesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $89.22 and a one year high of $159.10. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $149.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.16, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.36. Leidos had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 2.72%. The company had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.52%.

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.