Ballentine Partners LLC Takes $215,000 Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,640 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,172,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 31,662 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,427,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 5,756 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 5,378 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 11,079 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,199,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Leidos in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Leidos from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Leidos from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Leidos from $137.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.08.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS stock opened at $146.39 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.79 billion, a PE ratio of 63.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.69. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 12-month low of $85.35 and a 12-month high of $151.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.93.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The aerospace company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.59. The business had revenue of $3.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 25.66% and a net margin of 2.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.52%.

Insider Activity at Leidos

In other news, insider Roy E. Stevens sold 875 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.67, for a total transaction of $131,836.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,149 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,651,929.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.