Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires New Shares in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,515 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Leidos by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,800,357 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $945,458,000 after buying an additional 56,066 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $571,216,000 after acquiring an additional 405,256 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,365,903 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $546,912,000 after purchasing an additional 42,358 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Leidos by 27.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $392,133,000 after purchasing an additional 522,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Leidos by 2.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,153,420 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $351,007,000 after purchasing an additional 53,307 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In related news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total value of $203,320.16. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $862,260.48. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Leidos Stock Down 0.0 %

LDOS opened at $138.61 on Thursday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.23 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market cap of $17.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $139.91 and its 200 day moving average is $154.62.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LDOS. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut their price target on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.87.

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.