Tower Bridge Advisors Lowers Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

Tower Bridge Advisors lowered its position in shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,137 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Leidos were worth $2,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Leidos

In other Leidos news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.56, for a total transaction of $203,320.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of Leidos stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This trade represents a 15.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on LDOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $228.00 to $153.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.87.

Leidos Stock Performance

LDOS opened at $129.92 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $142.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.16. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.22 and a 1 year high of $202.90. The stock has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 30.93%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.32%.

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.