Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Decreases Position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC decreased its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 43.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,100 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 2,364 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 454 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,738 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,796 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $691,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,197 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $749,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 2.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $732,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LDOS. StockNews.com downgraded Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. William Blair downgraded Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Leidos has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.87.

Leidos Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Leidos stock opened at $133.58 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a twelve month low of $123.22 and a twelve month high of $202.90.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.13. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.93% and a net margin of 7.53%. Equities research analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s payout ratio is 17.32%.

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.