5,048 Shares in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) Purchased by Sciencast Management LP

Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,048 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $727,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ZEGA Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth approximately $294,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 134.1% during the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,317 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 8,773 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Leidos during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,645,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 151.6% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 548,748 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $79,053,000 after buying an additional 330,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 6,522 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 2,558 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LDOS. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Leidos from $162.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Leidos to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Leidos from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Leidos has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.07.

Leidos Price Performance

Shares of LDOS stock opened at $133.66 on Friday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52-week low of $123.23 and a 52-week high of $202.90. The stock has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $139.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.30.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The aerospace company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.62 EPS for the current year.

Leidos Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio is 17.32%.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In related news, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,260.48. The trade was a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.24, for a total transaction of $279,278.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. The trade was a 15.89 % 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.

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.