Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Acquires 477 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 23.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,507 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 251.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 281 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Leidos by 122.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 307 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Leidos in the 2nd quarter worth $60,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Leidos by 257.7% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 440 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 76.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In related news, CEO Thomas Arthur Bell purchased 1,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $145.04 per share, with a total value of $248,308.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 22,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,248,605.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Thomas Arthur Bell purchased 1,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $145.04 per share, for a total transaction of $248,308.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 22,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,248,605.92. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,059 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was 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. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LDOS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Leidos from $155.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Leidos from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Leidos from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Leidos from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.08.

Leidos Trading Up 0.6 %

LDOS stock opened at $157.06 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $89.22 and a twelve month high of $159.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.00.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a net margin of 2.72% and a return on equity of 28.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 8.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. 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.