New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Purchases 2,204 Shares of Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC boosted its position in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 2,079.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,310 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 2,204 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Leidos were worth $333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Leidos in the fourth quarter valued at $266,419,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Leidos by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,504,392 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $571,216,000 after buying an additional 405,256 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Leidos by 435.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 464,573 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $67,032,000 after buying an additional 377,756 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Leidos by 151.6% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 548,748 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $79,053,000 after acquiring an additional 330,623 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Leidos during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,402,000. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Leidos

In other news, Director Gary Stephen May sold 2,128 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 11,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,287.36. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,511 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $862,260.48. This trade represents a 19.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LDOS has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target 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. TD Cowen cut Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Leidos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Leidos from $197.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $228.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.07.

Leidos Price Performance

LDOS stock opened at $134.77 on Wednesday. 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 has a market cap of $17.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $136.59 and its 200 day moving average is $153.37. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.23 and a 52 week high of $202.90.

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

Leidos Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.