City Holding Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS)

City Holding Co. boosted its stake in Leidos Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LDOS) by 124.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 561 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Leidos were worth $81,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LDOS. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Leidos by 3.5% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. increased its stake 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 valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co increased its stake in Leidos by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 2,429 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC raised its position in Leidos by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 11,366 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,878,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 76.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Leidos news, Director Noel B. Geer purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $161.13 per share, for a total transaction of $322,260.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $322,260. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert C. Kovarik, Jr. sold 1,047 shares of the 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. The trade was a 14.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 research analysts recently issued reports on LDOS shares. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Leidos from $194.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen cut Leidos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Leidos from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Leidos in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $182.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Leidos from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Leidos presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.07.

Leidos Stock Performance

Leidos stock opened at $155.19 on Tuesday. Leidos Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $107.73 and a fifty-two week high of $202.90. The company has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $157.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.23.

Leidos (NYSE:LDOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The aerospace company reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.97. The firm had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.06 billion. Leidos had a return on equity of 30.31% and a net margin of 7.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Leidos Holdings, Inc. will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Leidos Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. This is a positive change from Leidos’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Leidos’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.22%.

Leidos Company 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.