Fmr LLC Buys 522,764 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Fmr LLC lifted its stake in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,405,726 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 522,764 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned about 1.80% of Leidos worth $392,133,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Leidos by 3.5% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc grew its holdings in Leidos by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 1,141 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. increased its position in Leidos by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 2,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 3.5% during the third quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 2,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Leidos by 0.8% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 11,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,878,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on LDOS shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Leidos from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Leidos from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price target on Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Leidos from $205.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Leidos from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.77.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $165.40 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $105.52 and a 1 year high of $202.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $171.29 and its 200-day moving average is $156.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.68.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.94, for a total transaction of $193,632.18. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,185,095.52. This trade represents a 14.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Noel B. Geer purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $161.13 per share, with a total value of $322,260.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at $322,260. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

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.